NAPLAN testing for around 1 million Australian students was suspended across much of the country on Wednesday, due to an issue with the online platform used for the literacy and numeracy assessments.

Schools were advised to pause the annual tests for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 just after 9am AEDT, following problems connecting to the NAPLAN testing platform operated by Education Services Australia (ESA).

Schools reported problems loading the platform or only some students being able to access the system and complete their exams, according to internal emails seen by Information Age.

Screenshots posted on social media appeared to show text messages from during the incident in which the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) advised schools to “finish current tests, if able, but do not start new ones.”

Year 3 students who sat paper versions of NAPLAN tests for writing assessments were told to continue as normal, but many schools were forced to postpone their digital exams.

NAPLAN testing resumed for some students just before midday AEDT on Wednesday “following a widespread issue … which affected students being able to log on to the online platform to complete their assessments”, ACARA announced.

“We apologise for the disruption to students and schools, and thank them for their patience,” a spokesperson said.

“The issue has now been resolved, and schools have been informed they can resume testing.

“We continue to monitor the platform to ensure students are able to complete their assessments without further issues.”

What went wrong with the NAPLAN platform?

Education Services Australia has not confirmed what went wrong within its NAPLAN testing system, and declined to comment when approached by Information Age.

ACARA first became aware of “a technical issue” which prevented some students from logging onto the ESA platform just after 9am AEDT on Wednesday, ACARA CEO Stephen Gniel said in a statement.

He said the issue was “urgently investigated” by ESA.

“Education Services Australia confirmed that the issue had been resolved and provided advice at about 11.15 AEDT that testing could be resumed,” Gniel said.

“At approximately 11.30 AEDT, schools were informed they were able to resume NAPLAN testing.

“Education Services Australia continue to monitor the platform to ensure students are able to complete their assessments without further issues.”


ACARA CEO Stephen Gniel fronted the media on Wednesday. Image: ABC News / YouTube

Gniel apologised for the incident, which he said “caused disruptions in a significant number of schools”, but he did not confirm how many students were affected.

ACARA had “measures in place to ensure students are not disadvantaged as a result of this technical issue”, he said.

Education Services Australia would also conduct “a full and thorough technical investigation so we can understand the cause of the issue”, Gniel added.

The federal Department of Education declined to comment on the incident.

NAPLAN moved online in 2022, in an effort to speed up testing and the delivery of results.

NAPLAN 'riddled with problems’, union alleges

Wednesday’s NAPLAN issues showed the system was “riddled with problems”, the Australian Education Union (AEU) argued.

The union’s federal president Correna Haythorpe said the federal government should review NAPLAN and replace it with “a comprehensive program of classroom based and teacher-led assessments, along with sample-based testing”.

“[Wednesday's] outages coupled with the high-stakes nature of the assessment risks increasing student anxiety and will add to teachers’ increasing workloads,” she said.

“There will also be questions about the accuracy of the NAPLAN results once these assessments finally take place.”

More than 4.5 million individual NAPLAN tests are expected to take place this year, ACARA said.

Schools should receive their full results commencing June 2026, with national results expected to be publicly released in early August.