NAPLAN 2025: Complete Guide & Topic Breakdown for Year 7 and 9
Get a comprehensive breakdown of the 2025 NAPLAN assessments, including exam structure, key topics, and preparation strategies. Essential reading for students aiming for selective entry or scholarship schools.
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NAPLAN is a crucial assessment, particularly for students applying to selective entry or scholarship schools. These institutions take a comprehensive approach to evaluating academic performance, considering both school reports and NAPLAN results. A strong NAPLAN score can significantly enhance your chances of securing a place at your preferred school.
Key Information
The 2025 NAPLAN will be conducted between March 12th and March 24th. Schools will schedule the tests within this window, so it's essential to be prepared and perform at your best.
Assessment Structure
The NAPLAN consists of five distinct assessments:
Assessment | Format | Duration | Questions | Time per Question |
---|---|---|---|---|
Writing | Written | 42 min | 1 | 42 min |
Reading | MCQ | 65 min | 50 | 72 seconds |
Language Conventions | MCQ/Short | 45 min | 58 | 47 seconds |
Numeracy (Calculator and Non-Calculator) | MCQ/Short | 65 min | 48 | 82 seconds |
Topic Breakdown
Writing
Common writing tasks include:
- Narrative Writing
- Persuasive Writing
- Informative Writing
Note: Informative Writing rarely appears
Reading
The Reading assessment focuses on paragraph questions from various text types:
- Informative texts
- Persuasive texts
- Imaginative texts
- Poems
Students are provided with a "magazine" containing all passages needed to answer the questions.
Language Conventions
Heavy Emphasis on:
- Correct Spelling Mistakes
- Correcting circled spelling errors
- Finding and correcting spelling errors
- Complete the sentence
- Correct Punctuation
- Identifying correct sentences
Less Emphasis on:
- Synonyms
- Information Deduction
- Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs
Numeracy (Calculator and Non-Calculator)
Key topics include:
- Basics
- Probability
- Statistics
- Linear Equations
- Pythagoras Theorem
- Algebra
- Measurement
- Financial Math
- Rates and Proportions
- Mystery Number
- Time
- Geometry
- Indices
Strong emphasis on:
- Numbers and Algebra
- Measurement and Geometry
- Probability and Statistics
- Financial Math
Most questions are presented as word problems. For example:
"Sam rents a truck from a hire company. The cost to rent the truck is directly proportional to the number of kilometres driven. The rental cost to drive 200 km is $87.50. What is the rental cost to drive 80 kilometres?"
Key Techniques
NAPLAN's timing structure differs significantly from selective entry exams for selective you are given 30 seconds per question therefore, you have more time per question in NAPLAN.
Additional Resources
You can access previous NAPLAN exams from 2012-2016 on the ACARA website.