Western Australia's 2026 NAPLAN results indicate a mixed performance across year levels. Year 9 students outperformed the national average in every category, a development WA Education Minister Sabine Winton described as "encouraging."

However, the results for younger students are more concerning. Approximately 40% of year 3 students are struggling with numeracy, with 39.9% placing in the bottom two performance tiers: "needs additional support" and "developing." Year 3 and 5 students scored below the average NAPLAN score in every category, while year 7 students ranked below average in all categories except spelling, where they scored 543.1 compared to the national average of 541.6.

Some improvements were noted compared to last year, including a 0.8% increase in year 5 grammar and punctuation scores and a 0.7% rise in year 7 numeracy. Conversely, year 3 writing scores dropped by 1.7%.

Opposition education spokesperson Liam Staltari echoed Minister Winton's concerns about the year 3 results, warning that the "warning signs" should not be ignored. He urged the government to enhance support for children entering year 3, citing issues such as low student-to-teacher ratios and teacher burnout in WA classrooms.

Minister Winton emphasized the importance of measuring educational success by the growth of each child over time, noting anecdotal reports of increasing developmental delays and complex needs among students.

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