NAPLAN and OLNA

NAPLAN 2026 (Years 7 and 9)

The NAPLAN testing period for 2026 will take place in Term 1, from Wednesday 11 March to Monday 23 March. Catch-up tests will be available for students who are absent on test days, up to and including Monday 23 March.

To prepare for the official NAPLAN testing period, the NAPLAN Online Practice Tests will be held on Monday, 23 of February 2026 (Week 4). All Year 7 and 9 students will participate in one practice test, the Omnibus, which includes sections on Reading, Conventions of Language, and Numeracy. 

It is important that your child attends school and participates in both the practice test and the official assessments. While NAPLAN results are not directly linked to school reports, they provide a valuable snapshot of student achievement and progress. Importantly, achievement of minimum benchmarks in Literacy and Numeracy are linked to Secondary School graduation, as well as TAFE and University entrance. 

For Year 9 students, meeting the minimum literacy and numeracy standard in NAPLAN will mean automatically prequalifying for the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) Literacy and Numeracy requirement. This prequalification exempts students from sitting the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA). Please see the attached document outlining the NAPLAN scores for OLNA prequalification.

Students who do not meet the WACE standard through their Year 9 NAPLAN results will be required to sit the relevant OLNA component. Students will have up to six opportunities before the end of Year 12 to demonstrate that they meet the required literacy and numeracy standards.

For both the practice and official testing sessions, students must bring their own charged devices with the 2026 NAP Locked Down Browser (LDB) installed. The Year 7 students will have installed the NAP LDB with assistance from the IT department within the first few days of school. Please ensure that your child has the 2026 NAP LDB installed on their device. All students are required to complete this process by Friday, 6 of February.

Please use the following procedure to download the LDB:

1. Uninstall the previous NAP LDB from your device.
2. Access the NAP LDB and user guides at Locked down browser | Online National Assessment Platform
3. Scroll to the device user guide and proceed to download the program for your operating system (Windows/Mac). 
4. The estimated time for the download, installation, and quality check is approximately 5-10 minutes.
5. Once the download is complete, proceed with the installation. 
6. After the installation, you can open the browser by double-clicking on the NAP icon on your desktop.
7. Select ‘device check without login’ from the menu option, then select ‘training’. You will be presented with a simple volume and image check to complete the process.

Devices purchased through the school portal will automatically install the NAP LDB, ensuring they are ready for use during testing. Devices operating on Android, ChromeOS, or Linux are not permitted. Acceptable devices include Windows computers running Version 10 (21H2) or later, macOS computers running Version 12 or later, and iPads running iPadOS 17 or later, provided they are equipped with an external keyboard. Additionally, students are required to bring plug-in headphones or Bluetooth headphones. All other materials will be provided on the day.

Please ensure your child uses the Education Perfect program to hone literacy skills. Additionally, encourage your child to visit the NAPLAN Online Public Demonstration Site at https://nap.edu.au/online-assessment/public-demonstration-site to see the types of questions and related functionalities in the NAPLAN Online assessment. 

It is not necessary to use a locked-down browser to interact with the public demonstration tests. These tests have been developed to familiarise students with the type of items and related functionalities used for NAPLAN. Additionally, students can visit the ACARA website to complete past test papers via the following link: https://acara.edu.au/assessment/naplan/naplan-2012-2016-test-papers

For more information about NAPLAN, please refer to the following brochures:

OLNA-and-Prequalification-through-Year-9-NAPLAN-Information-for-ParentsCarers-and-Schools.PDF

https://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplan-information-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf

https://www.nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/simple-english-naplan-parent-carer-information.pdf

https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers#translations

Further updates regarding NAPLAN will be provided in Term 1. If you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 9314 9362 or at  

donna.levar-uppill@education.wa.edu.au

Donna Levar-Uppill, School Assessment Coordinator

OLNA, Term 2, Weeks 2 – 3, 2026

Some Year 12 and Year 11 students, along with some Year 10 students who missed their first round of Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) in Term 4, 2025 are due to sit the OLNA during Term 2, Tuesday, 28 of April to Friday, 8 of May 2026. The OLNA provides students with the opportunity to successfully demonstrate the minimum standards of literacy and numeracy required for the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE). The School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) awards the WACE at the end of Year 12 to students who have met all the requirements.

Students are given six opportunities before the end of Year 12 to demonstrate the WACE Literacy and Numeracy requirement. The standard has three components – reading, writing and numeracy, and requires students to demonstrate proficiency in using a range of skills in each component. Once a student has demonstrated the required skills in a component, they are not required to sit that component again. 

If your child becomes unwell during the first week of testing, the Reading and Numeracy tests can be rescheduled to the second week of the testing window. However, the Writing test must be completed within the first two days of the testing window.

As the testing date draws nearer, the OLNA schedule will become visible in your child’s COMPASS timetable. This information can be found by scrolling forward in your child’s COMPASS timetable. Please ensure that your child is aware of their individual test requirements, dates, times, and locations. 

All students undertaking the OLNA are registered for the OLNA Support website. To maximise their chances of success, students should complete the relevant Skill Builders on the OLNA Support website for at least, one hour twice a week until the assessment period. Students who have previously completed the OLNA will have received a list of the skills and understandings that they found challenging in the previous OLNA and should take the time to develop these skills using the OLNA Support website.

To access the OLNA Support website: 

1. Go to https://olna.com.au/ 

2. Then, click on the login button in the top right-hand corner:

3. Enter your username: (your student email address)

4. Password: (your first name)

5. Select the Skill Builder tab for the component of OLNA you need to complete.

    

To further prepare students for the sorts of questions they can expect and familiarise them with the online assessment software, the School Curriculum and Standards Authority provides access to practice and example tests on a secure website. Access to the secure website for practice and example tests is as follows: 

Website: http://assess.scsa.wa.edu.au/ 

Username: 4002 

Password: prac14. 

If you want to know more, go to the Authority’s website (www.scsa.wa.edu.au) and look under Senior Secondary > Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment. You will find more information, answers to frequently asked questions, and a brief video.

If you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 9314 9362 or donna.levar-uppill@education.wa.edu.au

Donna Levar-Uppill, School Assessment Coordinator

OLNA Term 4, 2025 Results 

Students who completed the Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA) in Term 4, 2025 will receive their results by the end of next week. Reports will be emailed to parents/carers and students. 

We recommend downloading and retaining a copy of the OLNA report for future reference.

If you have any queries or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 9314 9362 or donna.levar-uppill@education.wa.edu.au

Donna Levar-Uppill, School Assessment Coordinator