NAPLAN 2027 Dates and Timetable: 10–22 March, Day by Day

NAPLAN 2027 runs from Wednesday 10 March to Monday 22 March 2027, a window of nine school days. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit four tests in a fixed order: writing first, on Wednesday 10 March, then reading, conventions of language and numeracy. Your school chooses the session times inside the window, so the one date every family can lock in today is the writing day.

Dates and rules below are ACARA's, as published on nap.edu.au and read on 12 October 2026.

Key takeaways

• The window: Wednesday 10 March to Monday 22 March 2027. Nine school days across three calendar weeks.
• Writing day is Wednesday 10 March. Year 3 writes on paper that day only. Years 5, 7 and 9 type their writing and may spill into Thursday 11 March only if the school has a technical or logistical limit.
• Total test time is under four hours: 2 h 55 min in Year 3, 3 h 07 min in Year 5 and 3 h 37 min in Years 7 and 9.
• A sick child cannot sit NAPLAN at home or early. They can catch up at school if they are back before the school's test schedule ends, and no later than Monday 22 March.
• Three things make 2027 unusual: Eid al-Fitr is expected on the writing day, four states and territories have a long weekend two days before it, and Term 1 ends three school days after the window closes in Victoria and Queensland.
• 2028 and 2029 are already set: 15–27 March 2028 and 14–26 March 2029.

What are the NAPLAN 2027 dates?

The national test window is Wednesday 10 March to Monday 22 March 2027. Every school in Australia, government, Catholic and independent, tests inside the same nine days.

Schools must schedule tests as early in the window as they can and put them in the morning ahead of the afternoon. ACARA's guidance to parents is that the first week is the priority, with the remaining days there for schools that need longer and for catch-ups.

What order are the tests in, and how long is each one?

The order is the same for every school: writing, then reading, then conventions of language, then numeracy. A school cannot run numeracy before reading to suit its timetable.

Five details worth knowing before the week:

1. The writing text type is a surprise. Students are told on the day whether it is a narrative or a persuasive piece. ACARA has not disclosed the text type in advance since 2014, so a tutor who claims to know is guessing.
2. Year 3 writes by hand. Every other test, in every year level, is online.
3. The online tests adapt. Questions get harder or easier depending on your child's answers. A child who says the test was hard may simply have been sent down the more demanding path.
4. Two tests lock a section. In conventions of language the spelling section closes once a student moves on. In Years 7 and 9 numeracy, the short non-calculator section closes the same way.
5. Two tests in one day is allowed, with a break of at least 20 minutes between them.

Who sits NAPLAN in 2027?

Every student in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. If your child is in Year 2, 4, 6 or 8 in 2026, 2027 is their year.

How far into Term 1 does NAPLAN fall in your state?

The window is national but school years are not. We counted the school days between each state's first student day of 2027 and the writing test, using the government term dates we track for our school holiday guides and taking out public holidays.

The gap between the first and last rows is seven school days. A Queensland Year 3 child has spent six full weeks with a new teacher before picking up the writing paper. A Tasmanian one has had under five. Nothing about the test changes, but if your child is slow to settle into a new class, a later-starting state gives them less runway.

These are government school dates for continuing students. Catholic and independent schools can start a few days either side, and each school's pupil-free days come off the count. NSW dates are for the Eastern division; far-west NSW schools start a week later.

What is different about NAPLAN in 2027?

Eid al-Fitr is expected on the writing day. ACARA lists Eid al-Fitr as approximately 10 March 2027, with Ramadan starting about 8 February, so fasting families will be in the last weeks of Ramadan in the lead-up. ACARA's guidance is that a school closing for Eid must agree a schedule with its state test authority, and that a child who is away for Eid can catch up when they return. In ACARA's own example, a Year 3 student absent on days 1 to 3 comes back on day 4, joins the class for that day's test, does writing in a catch-up session the same day, and finishes the rest by day 9. If this is your family, tell the school now so the catch-up is planned. From 2028, ACARA expects Ramadan and Eid to finish before the window opens.

A long weekend lands two days before writing day in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, where Monday 8 March is a public holiday. A weekend away is fine. Travel that runs into Wednesday is the thing to avoid, because Year 3 writing is scheduled for day 1 only and a child who misses it relies on a catch-up.

Easter follows almost immediately. Good Friday is 26 March 2027, four days after the window closes. In Victoria and Queensland, Term 1 ends on Thursday 25 March, three school days after the last test day, so a family that skips the last week of term for an early Easter trip misses day 9, the final catch-up day. Our state guides list the break dates: Victoria, Queensland, NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania, ACT and NT. For how the 2027 breaks line up across states, see the two weeks in 2027 when every state is on holidays.

Camps and carnivals should not clash. ACARA does not accept camps, excursions, school sport or carnivals as a reason to push writing past day 1. If your school has booked one inside 10–22 March, ask how the test schedule works around it.

What happens if my child is sick or away?

ACARA's rules are short and strict:

• Not at home. A sick child cannot do NAPLAN from home.
• Not early. A child cannot sit a test before the rest of their year level at their school, so leaving for a trip before the window does not come with an early sitting.
• Catch-ups are inside the window. A child who returns while the school is still testing can sit missed tests, in the usual order where the school can manage it.
• Writing catch-ups have their own deadline. Year 3 until the end of day 4, Monday 15 March. Years 5, 7 and 9 until the end of day 9, Monday 22 March.
• Missed means no result for that test. A child who cannot catch up is recorded as absent and gets no result for the tests they missed. Tests they did sit are still reported.
• Interstate that week? A school near where you are staying may be able to include your child in one of its scheduled sessions. It is not obliged to. Ask your own principal to arrange it through the state test authority.

A day or two off sick in week one usually means a catch-up session, not a missed test. A full fortnight away means all four tests are missed.

Can my child be withdrawn, exempted or given adjustments?

All three are possible, and all three have to be arranged with the principal before testing begins.

• Withdrawal is the parent's decision, not the school's. ACARA describes it as intended for religious beliefs or philosophical objections to testing. It needs a formal request to the principal before the tests, following your state's process. If a school suggests your child sit NAPLAN out, the decision is still yours.
• Exemption is for a student with significant disability, or one from a language background other than English who has been in Australia for less than a year. It needs your signed consent, is never automatic, and can cover one test and not the others.
• Adjustments such as extra time, rest breaks or assistive technology are available for students with disability. They generally mirror the support your child already has in class, and some need approval from the state test authority, so raise it with the teacher well before March.

How should my child prepare?

ACARA's advice is blunt: students are not expected to study for NAPLAN, and it does not recommend heavy preparation or coaching services. The tests draw mostly on what was taught in earlier years.

What does help is knowing the screen. The public demonstration site has sample tests for each year level, free and open all year. Twenty minutes on it shows a child the question types, the on-screen tools and the writing panel. There is no Year 3 writing demo, because Year 3 writing is on paper.

Two practical checks for the week before:

• Whose device? Schools install a locked-down browser on each device before the tests. If your school runs bring-your-own laptops or tablets, ask what it needs from you and by when, so the device is set up, has a full battery and is at school on the right days.
• Typing stamina. Years 5, 7 and 9 type for 42 minutes in writing. A child who rarely types more than a paragraph will feel it. A few longer pieces of typed homework in Term 1 is practice enough.

When do NAPLAN 2027 results come out?

ACARA lists reporting dates one year at a time and the 2027 dates will follow the same page. The 2026 round shows the pattern:

So expect your child's individual student report in Term 3, handed out by the school. If it has not arrived a few weeks into the term, ask the school; ACARA does not send reports to families.

The report places your child in one of four proficiency levels for each test: Exceeding, Strong, Developing or Needs additional support. Our guide to what the NAPLAN proficiency levels really mean walks through a report line by line.

One note from 2026: a platform fault on day 1 disrupted the online writing test for some students in Years 5, 7 and 9 for up to two hours, and every Year 5, 7 and 9 report carried a line asking for writing results to be read with care. Year 3 was unaffected because it writes on paper. It is a good reason to keep Thursday 11 March clear as well: day 2 is where writing goes when day 1 has a technical problem.

What are the NAPLAN dates for 2028 and 2029?

NAPLAN moved from May to March in 2023 so that results reach schools earlier in the year. Every window since has run Wednesday to Monday, nine school days.

Frequently asked questions

When is NAPLAN in 2027?

Wednesday 10 March to Monday 22 March 2027. Writing is on Wednesday 10 March. Your school sets the days and times for reading, conventions of language and numeracy inside the window.

Is NAPLAN on the same days at every school?

The window and the writing day are national. The sessions for the other three tests are set by each school, in a fixed order, as early in the window as it can manage.

Is NAPLAN compulsory?

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to take part. A parent can withdraw a child by formal request to the principal before testing begins.

Is NAPLAN done on a computer?

Yes, apart from Year 3 writing, which is on paper. Reading, conventions of language and numeracy are online for every year level, and Years 5, 7 and 9 also type their writing.

Can my child sit NAPLAN early if we are going away?

No. A child cannot sit a test before the rest of their year level at their school. If you are back before the school's test schedule ends, they can catch up.

Does NAPLAN count towards school reports or high school entry?

NAPLAN is not a pass or fail test and is separate from your child's school report. Keep each report: a school you apply to later may ask for a copy with the enrolment form, and it is worth asking what it does with it. If you are weighing up schools, you can search and compare schools near you on AroundSchools; for NAPLAN results by school, the official source is My School.

How we checked

Every date, duration and rule here was read on ACARA's National Assessment Program site and its reporting calendar on 12 October 2026. First student days for 2027 come from each state and territory education department, and the March public holidays from each state government's holiday calendar; the school-day counts are our own arithmetic on those dates.

Related reading

• NAPLAN results explained for parents: what the proficiency levels really mean
• The two weeks in 2027 when every state is on school holidays
• School starting age in Australia 2027: cutoff dates for every state
• NSW selective and OC entry for 2028: dates, places and the equal-places rule

Sources and further reading

• ACARA: NAPLAN key dates (2027, 2028 and 2029 windows)
• ACARA: NAPLAN test window (test order, durations, catch-up rules)
• ACARA: Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and NAPLAN
• ACARA: student participation (absence, exemption, withdrawal)
• ACARA: NAPLAN information for parents and carers
• ACARA: NAPLAN participation FAQs
• ACARA: NAPLAN writing test FAQs
• ACARA: results and reports and NAP reporting key dates
• NSW Education Standards Authority: NAPLAN key dates

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