NAPLAN past papers: where the official past papers are (ACARA's 2008 to 2011 and 2012 to 2016 tests with answers), why nothing after 2016 is released, the public demonstration site, the state example tests, how to use a paper test to prepare for the online adaptive test year by year, and a printable source list and marking log (free PDF)

"NAPLAN past papers" is the most searched NAPLAN phrase in Australia, and most of what comes up for it is either a coaching site's own tests labelled as past papers or a link to an ACARA page that has moved. The facts are simple: the official past papers exist for 2008 to 2016, with answers, free, from ACARA; nothing after 2016 is released; and the current online test is shown on a separate demonstration site. This page gives every official source by year, what changed with the online test, how to use a paper test for the online one, year by year, and a printable source list with a marking log.

Download the NAPLAN past papers source list and marking log (PDF) (every official source by year and test, what each one is good for, the terms of use, a page on using a paper test for the online test, and a marking log for three papers; two pages, free).

The official past papers, by year

Nine years of papers, four year levels, four tests each: 144 past tests, which is more than any child needs. The numeracy papers are 35 to 40 questions (Year 3 and 5) and 40 questions with a calculator section (Year 7 and 9) in the older years; the reading papers come with the magazine of texts; the writing tests are the prompt sheet and the marking guide, which is the useful part.

Terms of use. ACARA's materials may be downloaded, printed and copied for personal use. They may not be emailed around, uploaded, published or used in coaching clinics, and some images and texts in the papers belong to third parties. That is why this page links to the source rather than hosting the papers.

The state example tests

Each state authority publishes some practice material in the current format, written for schools:

• NESA (NSW) has NAPLAN information and example questions for parents by year level.
• QCAA (Queensland) publishes "getting ready" material and student-readiness guidance for the online test.
• VCAA (Victoria) has parent information and links to the demonstration site.
• SCSA (WA) and the other authorities link to the same ACARA material.

None of these is a full test; they are the demonstration site plus guidance. For a full test in the current style with answers, the practice tests on this site are written to it: Year 3, Year 5, Year 7 and Year 9 numeracy, and the writing prompts with the marking criteria. How to fit them into the year is in NAPLAN practice tests, Years 3 to 9.

What changed when NAPLAN went online

The content did not change. Numeracy is still the Australian Curriculum strand for the year: number and algebra, measurement and geometry, statistics and probability. Reading is still finding, interpreting and reflecting. The conventions test is still spelling, grammar and punctuation. So a 2016 paper tests the right things in the wrong format, and the plan below uses it for what it is good at.

How to use a past paper, year by year

Year 3. Use the 2014 to 2016 Year 3 numeracy papers, untimed the first time, and sit beside the child, because the first thing a paper reveals in Year 3 is reading: the child who can do 46 + 38 and cannot do "Priya had 46 stickers and was given 38 more" has a reading problem, not a maths one. Then the demonstration site for the online types, because Year 3 children have never typed an answer into a box under time. The writing test is on paper, so the old prompts are exactly right.

Year 5. The 2012 to 2016 Year 5 numeracy papers are the best available diagnostic for the three topics that decide Year 5: decimals, area and perimeter, and two-step word problems. Mark by topic, not by score. For the online format, the demonstration site, then a timed practice test in the current style.

Year 7. Use the old Year 7 papers for the content, especially the ratio, percentage and early-algebra questions, but do the calculator and non-calculator split with the current-style tests, because the older papers do not separate them the same way and the non-calculator section is where Year 7 marks go.

Year 9. The old Year 9 papers are good for Pythagoras, index laws, linear graphs and probability, which have not moved. What they lack is the harder reasoning block the adaptive test sends a strong student to; for that, the demonstration site's Year 9 items and the practice test on this site.

Writing, every year. The old writing prompts with the marking guide are the most useful past-paper material there is, because the ten criteria (audience, text structure, ideas, character and setting or persuasive devices, vocabulary, cohesion, paragraphing, sentence structure, punctuation, spelling) are the same, and a child who writes two timed pieces and has them marked against the criteria improves more in a fortnight than from any amount of numeracy practice.

Marking a past paper so it tells you something

1. Mark it the same day, with the child, from the answer key. Every wrong answer gets a reason in the child's words: did not know, misread, slip, ran out of time.
2. Group the wrong answers by topic, not by number. Three wrong in fractions is a lesson; three wrong spread across the paper is reading or pace.
3. Write the topics down, and teach those for the next two or three weeks before the next paper. The log in the printable has a row for each of three papers and a column for the topics.
4. Do not convert the score to a level. The old papers were scored on bands, the current test on a different scale, and a raw score on a 2016 paper does not map to Exceeding or Strong. Use the paper to find the gaps, and the school's report in July to see the level.

What the past papers cannot do

They cannot show the adaptive branching, so a child should be warned that the real test gets harder if it is going well, and that this is good news. They cannot teach the typed-answer discipline (units, decimal points, reading the box). And they cannot replace the teaching: a child who sits past papers every weekend and is never taught the topics the papers expose arrives in March with the same gaps and better stamina.

Where to get help

A 1-on-1 online class for NAPLAN with a tutor who holds a master's in mathematics and teaches the Australian Curriculum strand a term ahead of the school: a past paper marked by topic in the first free 30-minute class, then the missing topics taught in the school's order, then the online format and pacing in February, at Australian after-school times (4 pm in Sydney is 12:30 pm for the tutor), every class recorded, A$14 to A$19 an hour. The dates and the term-by-term plan are in NAPLAN 2027 dates, and how to read the report in NAPLAN results explained.

Download the NAPLAN past papers source list and marking log (PDF)

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →