Ruby and her 11-year-old son Mark* were dreading the day his scores on a national schools assessment were released. Mark was one of more than 1.3 million children in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 to sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in 2026. “When I got the results, because it comes under Mark’s name, he wanted to see his results,’‘ Ruby said. Numeracy results had improved for most cohorts since 2025, although the grade 3 score had decreased. “Over the last four years, the numeracy results of Indigenous students have gone up and up,’‘ he said.