Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ)
Frazao Studio Latino/ Getty Images The latest round of national testing has shown Australian school students’ skills around digital tools, such as computers and tablets, has dropped. This is despite students spending significant time online and on devices.
What is the test and what is going on? A different kind of literacy The latest test is run by the same national organisation that runs the NAPLAN testing. This round looks only at “ICT literacy”.
This is about students’ ability to use information and communication technology tools appropriately, critically and safely. This is also referred to in the national curriculum as “digital literacy”. Since 2005, a national sample of students in Years 6 and 10 have been tested on their technology skills.
This is designed to provide a measure of how well Australian students can use digital tools and technologies. The latest test The 2025 test – the first for three years – uses a representative sample of 5,498 Year 6 students and 4,753 Year 10 students.
The test asked students to complete tasks such as creating digital presentations, analysing data, designing algorithms, and responding to scenarios involving online safety and ethics. For example, one task might require students to read an email from a school technology committee and follow instructions to update an inter-school sports day webpage.
In another they might have to demonstrate how to navigate a website. Alongside the test, students were also surveyed about their use of and attitudes towards digital technology. Year 6 results Unsurprisingly, most students reported they had extensive experience using digital tools, such as computers, tablets, smart phones and watches.
More than 60% of Year 6 students had at least five years’ experience using digital tools. For Year 10, this figure was 77%. But more surprisingly the 2025 results show a decline in student proficiency in ICT literacy. Half (50%) of Year 6 students met or exceeded the national “proficient standard” for digital literacy.
The proficient standard is a “challenging but reasonable” level of achievement expected for each year level. This is a decline from 55% in 2022. What about Year 10? In 2025, only 37% of Year 10 students across Australia met or exceeded the proficient standard.
This represents a significant decline from 2022, when 46% of Year 10 students met the standard. As the report notes, it is also the lowest proportion of students achieving the proficient standard since the assessment began in 2005. What is happening?
So, students are using digital tools but not building digital literacy skills at the same time. At face value, the finding is troubling: students are surrounded by technology yet appear to be getting worse at using it.
This apparent contradiction reflects a deeper issue. Literacy is a far more complex capability than simply using technology. High levels of digital access or frequency of digital technology use do not guarantee this deeper capability.
Other studies tell us students may be highly adept at navigating apps or platforms while lacking the critical and reflective skills needed for learning, problem-solving, managing online safety or civic participation. Concerning gaps in results The latest results also show some concerning and ongoing inequities.
For example students from schools in major cities generally outperformed those in regional and remote schools. Non-indigenous students also outperformed their Indigenous peers. We know regional and remote areas and some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities do not have reliable access to devices, or reliable internet connections.
What now? This national assessment attempts to capture a very wide range of skills. This includes technical skills, information management, critical evaluation and ethical engagement. As with many large-scale assessments, there is a tension between breadth and depth – in trying to measure everything, the instrument may struggle to do any one dimension well.
This raises a broader curriculum question. Despite being identified as a general capability for students, digital literacy has no clear disciplinary “home” in the same way literacy or numeracy does. It sits across all learning areas, from humanities and social sciences, through to the arts.
This means both teaching and assessment become fragmented. If we are serious about improving digital literacy, we need to rethink how we teach and how we assess it.
This shift could better align assessment with the complex, evolving nature of digital technology and provide a more meaningful picture of what students can do.
Kate Highfield has received funding from the Australia Government, but none in relation to this work.
Holly Tootell has historically received funding from the Australian government for specific research projects.
She has no current affiliation to ACARA.
Katie Wilson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Original source: https://analysis1.mil-osi.com/2026/05/26/only-37-of-year-10-students-meet-our-national-standards-for-digital-skills/