Students with disability can have adjustments in NAPLAN, such as extra time, rest breaks, magnification or alternative questions, so that they have an equivalent experience of the tests. Schools work out each student’s adjustments case by case with parents, carers and the student, under the NAPLAN national protocols for test administration.
General informationThis page summarises ACARA’s page on adjustments for students with disability. It is not advice about any student. The national protocols for test administration set out the adjustments in detail, and for assistive technology, schools must follow those protocols and the test administration authority’s procedures. ACARA says the school principal can explain adjustments and the process for a formal exemption.
Four ideas behind every adjustment
ACARA says it has put in place a range of adjustments for students with diverse learning needs and functional abilities; keyboard accessibility and magnification are among its examples. Four ideas run through how they are used.
- Access, not answers. An adjustment should let a student with disability get to the tests and take part in them. For assistive technology, ACARA adds that an adjustment is not appropriate if it would stop the student showing, on their own, the literacy or numeracy skills being assessed.
- The usual support. Adjustments should be in line with the help a student normally has for assessments at school, as set out in a personalised learning and support plan, NCCD evidence, or both.
- Test by test. A student may have more than one adjustment in a test, and a different set in each test, though some adjustments need the test administration authority’s approval.
- The test still measures its skill. ACARA’s own example: reading the stimulus material or the questions aloud in the reading test is not permitted, even if that is what happens in the student’s regular lessons.
Students with a temporary injury may also be reasonably accommodated.
What is available
| Adjustment | What it is | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Alternative questions | Stand-ins for technology-enhanced questions a student cannot use, which capture the same response and measure the same content. There are two kinds, audio and visual. | Once a student is identified as needing them, the platform swaps them in automatically wherever needed. |
| Colour themes | Black text on one of 5 backgrounds: white, blue, lilac, green or yellow. | The adjustment code for colour themes, COL, gives the student access to a web browser, so the school needs the test administration authority’s approval before the tests, and must supervise. |
| Assistive technology | A student’s own assistive technology, where it is compatible with the test and the platform; some may not be. | Not approved automatically. Schools must follow the protocols and the test administration authority’s procedures. |
| Special print paper tests | Large print, black-and-white print and braille papers. | Arranged in advance with the state or territory test administration authority. ACARA encourages the online platform’s own adjustments wherever possible. |
| Electronic test (PDF) | A PDF of the test opened on a device. It is not an online NAPLAN test. | Only for students with a physical or vision impairment who already use a computer in classroom assessments and cannot reach the tests through any other adjustment. |
| Scribe | A person who writes for the student, in the writing test only. | The student must meet the criteria in the protocols, and the school must have the test administration authority’s permission. |
| NAPLAN support person | Help in the reading, conventions of language and numeracy tests. Not in writing, where a scribe is the equivalent. | Cannot be anyone responsible for running the test, a parent of a student, or another student. |
One person can act as both scribe and support person, but they remain two roles with separate responsibilities. Reading to students is different again: it is open to all students under the protocols, except where reading aloud would stop a student showing the skills a test is measuring.
Extra time and rest breaks
Extra time and rest breaks should be granted only if they are part of the student’s regular teaching and learning. ACARA leaves the number of extra minutes to teachers and schools, as the people best placed to judge. Its general guide is that no more than 5 extra minutes be granted for every half-hour of test time, and in some cases up to an extra 50% of the published test time.
Take an imaginary test with a published time of 60 minutes. The round number is only for the arithmetic; it is not the length of any real NAPLAN test.
At the general guide, 60 minutes holds two half-hours, so up to 2 × 5 = 10 extra minutes: 70 minutes in all. At the upper figure for some cases, 50% of 60 minutes is 30 extra minutes: 90 minutes in all.
Rest breaks can be used instead of extra time, to stop a student tiring, though some students need both. During a break the student does not work on the test or its materials.
A formal exemption
The exceptionACARA describes its approach as inclusive testing, so that every Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 student has the chance to take part. In exceptional circumstances a formal exemption may be granted: to a student whose disability severely limits their capacity to take part, or to a student new to Australia from a non-English speaking background. The school principal can explain the process.
Students who do sit NAPLAN, with or without adjustments, all receive an individual report; reading a NAPLAN report walks through it. The dates and order of the tests are in what NAPLAN tests, and when.