Victorian students have again achieved some of the highest NAPLAN results in the country – showcasing the value of the Andrews Labor Government’s investment in education over eight years.

The 2022 national NAPLAN data released today shows Victoria performed strongly at the primary level, ranked first or second in eight out of 10 domains -including all five domains at the important foundational Year 3 level.

Victoria’s Year 3 students were ranked either first or second in Australia across all five domains. Compared to 2014, the number of Victorian Year 3 students reaching the top two bands of Reading has lifted from 51 per cent to 60 per cent – and Victoria’s mean scores have improved in seven out of 10 domains in primary schools.

In 2022, Year 3 students scored their best ever mean Reading results, again proving themselves the strongest readers in the country. That means there are around 6,800 more Year 3 students now reaching the top two bands for Reading than in 2014.

This year’s NAPLAN also had the highest proportion of Victorian Year 5 students in the top two bands for Spelling. Compared to 2014, around 3,100 more students are now in the top two bands.

Victorian students are all-round achievers – leading every jurisdiction apart from the ACT on the number of subjects where our students ranked first or second in the highest percentage of students above the national minimum standard.

In 2022, just 9.5 per cent of Year 5 students placed in the bottom two bands for Reading, compared to 15.3 per cent in 2014. Compared to eight years ago, nearly 4,600 more students now have the vital foundational life skill of literacy so they can move from learning to read to reading to learn.

Victorian students also improved their performance at the secondary level – with the equal highest proportion of Year 9 students in the top two bands of reading in 2022.

Students in regional Victoria performed strongly, narrowing the achievement gap in Year 7 and Year 9 reading.

This year’s results underline that lifting numeracy results remains a national challenge – it will be a focus for the Labor Government’s $258 million Tutor Learning Initiative in 2023, while the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy program will be refocused to support year 10 students who need to boost their skills in literacy and numeracy.

Since coming to office, the Government has invested $26.9 billion in school education programs and infrastructure – including $2.7 billion in equity funding since 2016 to improve the learning experience for every child. The Government is also rolling out mandatory phonics checks for all Grade 1 students beginning in 2023.