Year 5 NAPLAN: what's tested and how to practise
By Year 5 NAPLAN is fully online, writing included, and the questions expect more: multi-step numeracy problems, longer reading texts, and a written piece marked on ten separate criteria. Most Year 5 students have sat NAPLAN once before, in Year 3, but the step up in difficulty catches many families off guard. Knowing the four tests and practising the formats is what turns that step up into a manageable one.
What does the Year 5 NAPLAN cover?
| Test | What your child does | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | Types a story or a persuasive piece from a prompt | 42 min |
| Reading | Reads longer texts on screen and answers questions, including inference | 50 min |
| Conventions of Language | Answers spelling, grammar and punctuation questions on screen | 45 min |
| Numeracy | Answers number, measurement, geometry and multi-step problem questions | 50 min |
The online tests are adaptive: how your child answers the first set of questions decides whether the next set is harder or easier. Two children in the same room can see different questions, and a harder pathway means the test rates your child well. There is no way to practise “the” Year 5 paper, because there is no single paper. What you can practise is the question style and the time pressure.
That is exactly what a diagnostic is for. Take the free diagnostic and see a result for each of the four areas before deciding where practice time should go.
Get startedSample Year 5 NAPLAN-style questions
These are original questions written in the style of NAPLAN. Real test questions are ACARA copyright and are not published for practice use.
Numeracy
A box holds 6 muffins. A cafe buys 13 boxes and sells 59 muffins. How many muffins are left?
Answer: 19, from 13 × 6 = 78, then 78 − 59
Year 5 numeracy regularly chains two operations inside one word problem, and the most common error is stopping after the first step.
Reading
“Lena stared at the audition list for a long time, then folded it quickly into her bag before anyone could see her face.” How is Lena most likely feeling?
Answer: Nervous or upset about the result
Nothing in the sentence names a feeling, so this tests inference from a character's actions, the single most tested reading skill at Year 5.
Conventions of Language
Which sentence is punctuated correctly? (a) The dogs bone was buried in the garden. (b) The dog's bone was buried in the garden. (c) The dogs' bone was buried in the garden, it was old.
Answer: (b)
Apostrophes of possession are a Year 5 staple, and option (c) adds a comma splice, the other error this test loves.
How are Year 5 results reported?
Each test result lands at one of four proficiency levels. Strong means your child is meeting the Year 5 expectation.
Because Year 5 is the second sitting, the report is also the first real progress check against Year 3, as long as both results are from 2023 or later, when the current levels replaced the old bands.
- Exceeding
- Working beyond what is expected at this year level.
- Strong
- Meeting the challenging but reasonable expectation for this year level.
- Developing
- Approaching the expectation, with specific areas still to build on.
- Needs additional support
- Likely to move faster with targeted support on the basics first.
When is the Year 5 NAPLAN in 2027?
The 2027 window is Wednesday 10 March to Monday 22 March 2027. Schools schedule the four tests inside that window, and Writing has to be scheduled for the first day. Most schools finish in the first week, so confirm the exact days with your school rather than a national site.
Test structure, marking and reporting facts on this page come from ACARA's public NAPLAN documentation, checked against nap.edu.au in August 2026.
Find the Year 5 gaps now, not on test day
The gap between Year 3 and Year 5 is where most of the difficulty arrives. A diagnostic shows you which part of it your child has already closed.