Year 5 NAPLAN: What’s in the Test?

What’s inside the Year 5 NAPLAN test?

The Year 5 NAPLAN test assesses four key skill areas: Language Conventions, Writing, Reading, and Numeracy. Each section is designed to measure a student’s ability to apply essential literacy and numeracy skills in different contexts.

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NAPLAN Test Format for Year 5

Most schools conduct NAPLAN online, except for Year 3 writing, which is still done on paper.

Some schools may use paper-based tests if they do not have access to online testing facilities.

Timing and Structure

Example Question Formats

• Multiple choice: Choose the correct answer from a list.
• Short answer: Write a brief response or solve a problem.
• Fill in the blanks: Complete a sentence with the correct word.
• Interactive (online only): (Drag-and-drop, matching, clicking on text.

Test 1: Reading

The Reading test assesses how well students understand different types of texts.

Types of reading texts

• Fiction (stories, short narratives)
• Non-fiction (news articles, reports)
• Poetry (rhyming or free verse poems)
• Information texts (diagrams, advertisements, instructional texts)

Types of comprehension questions

• Literal questions – Directly finding information from the text.
• Inferential questions – Reading between the lines to understand meaning.
• Vocabulary-based questions – Understanding word meanings in context.

Example question (Fiction text)

“Why did the main character feel nervous before entering the room?”

Test 2: Writing

Students must complete a writing task in one of three formats:

• Narrative writing (telling a story with characters, a setting, and a plot).
• Persuasive writing (expressing an opinion and supporting it with arguments).
• Informative writing

How writing is assessed

Your child will be given a ‘writing stimulus’/prompt and asked to write a response. Markers evaluate your child’s writing based on criteria like:

• Text structure – Does the writing have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion?
• Ideas – Are the ideas well-developed and relevant to the topic?
• Language features – Does the student use appropriate vocabulary, sentence variety, and tone?
• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation – Are sentences well-constructed and correctly punctuated?

Example prompt:

Test 3: Language conventions

The Language Conventions test evaluates your child’s ability to understand and use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Spelling

Your child will be given a mix of common, complex, and high-frequency words to spell correctly.

They may need to correct a misspelt word in a sentence or identify the correct spelling from multiple choices.

Grammar and punctuation

This section tests your child’s understanding of sentence structure, verb tense, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation rules.

Students may need to identify errors, choose the correct word or punctuation mark, or rewrite sentences to improve clarity.

Example question:

“Which sentence is correctly punctuated?”

1. I went to the shops, and bought milk.
2. I went to the shops and bought milk.
3. I went to the shops; and bought milk.

Test 4: Numeracy

The Numeracy test measures your child’s ability to apply mathematical concepts in real-life situations. It covers:

1. Number and algebra

• Basic operations (+, −, ×, ÷)
• Fractions, decimals, and percentages
• Patterns and algebraic reasoning

2. Measurement and geometry

• Measuring length, area, volume, and time
• Understanding shapes, symmetry, and angles

3. Statistics and probability

• Reading graphs and tables
• Calculating chance and probability

4. Problem-solving and reasoning

• Applying maths skills to real-world problems
• Explaining how a solution was found

Example question (Measurement and geometry):

“A rectangular garden is 6 metres long and 3 metres wide. What is its area?”

Get a FREE Year 5 NAPLAN practice test

Free Year 5 NAPLAN Mock Test Download

Get test-ready and practise questions modelled on the NAPLAN test.

Download now

Free Year 5 NAPLAN Mock Test Download

Fill out your details below to get this resource emailed to you.

"*" indicates required fields

First Name*

Last Name*

Email*

Postcode*

Grade in 2025*

Grade in 2025123456789101112

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By submitting this form, you agree to receive promotional messages from Matrix about its products and services. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link at the bottom of our emails.