Laptops down: Year 5 NAPLAN tests return to pen and paper amid backlash against devices

Year 5 students will return to pen and paper for NAPLAN tests in Victoria from 2028 after education ministers agreed to scrap online testing in primary schools in response to declining academic results.

Education ministers decided to return to handwritten testing for the cohort amid a growing backlash against classroom technology, with some advocates of limiting device use arguing the reversal does not go far enough.

Year 5 students will now join year 3 students and take the tests by hand, but whether years 7 and 9 students will take the test offline hasn’t been decided.

Australia recorded its worst result in the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment, with the global test revealing Australian students spent an average of 2.6 hours a day on digital devices, compared with the OECD average of 1.7 hours a day.

NAPLAN results also reveal about a third of Australian students are failing to meet literacy and numeracy benchmarks.

The Heads Up Alliance, a growing community of parents lobbying against digital devices, said scrapping online testing for year 5 students was just a start.

Ahead of the education ministers’ meeting on Monday, the alliance wrote to every minister, reminding them that tens of thousands of parents and teachers had signed a petition calling for the restoration of handwriting as a core education policy.

“Changes to year five NAPLAN are a start,” they said in a statement. “But stay with us; with your continued support, there’s a lot more to achieve.”

NSW Education Minister Prue Car is pushing for years 7 and 9 NAPLAN to also be pen and paper tests.

“The evidence from our classrooms points clearly to the ongoing value of handwriting and its importance for student development and engaging a different way of learning,” she said.

“We’re listening to teachers and families who want a sensible, balanced approach to technology use in schools.”

Victoria has led the way in reducing digital device use and banning mobile phones in public school classrooms.

From the start of the 2027 school year, students at all government, Catholic and independent schools will also be required to have personal devices, including smart glasses, phones and smartwatches, switched off and stored during school hours.

State school pupils in years 3 to 6 will also be restricted to 90 minutes of screen time a day from next year, while pupils in prep to year 2 will have minimal exposure to devices.

Teachers at state secondary schools will be required to plan device-free learning, although time limits won’t be enforced.

Victorian Education Minister Gabrielle Williams said she supported the shift to pen and paper testing for year 5 pupils and would consider her position on years 7 and 9 students making the shift, alongside her interstate colleagues.

“Victorian students are the best in the nation in NAPLAN – and we support these changes that will help lift results even further,” she said.

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