This week’s NAPLAN results show the writing skill of students is actually dropping as they progress from Year 3 through to Year 9.

The questions are based on sample questions for Year 9 students created by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, which develops NAPLAN tests.

A year 9 student’s results in NAPLAN writing is a better predictor of Higher School Certificate success than their numeracy or reading mark, an internal analysis of HSC and NAPLAN data by the ...