NAPLAN testing across Australia has resumed after a widespread technical failure forced schools to pause the national assessments on their opening day, disrupting testing for an estimated 1.4 million students.
The outage, which affected the online platform used for the literacy and numeracy assessments, left many students unable to log in or continue their tests
The disruption also triggered confusion across schools nationwide and raised questions about the reliability of the digital testing system that has been fully online since 2022.
According to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the issue has now been resolved and testing has resumed.
“Naplan testing has now resumed following a widespread issue earlier this morning, which affected students being able to log on to the online platform to complete their assessments,” the authority said in a statement.
“We apologise for the disruption to students and schools, and thank them for their patience … We continue to monitor the platform to ensure students are able to complete their assessments without further issues.”
Nationwide disruption
The New South Wales Education Standards Authority, which administers the test in NSW, advised that ACARA had identified performance problems with the system.
“ACARA advises to continue with open tests, if able, but do not start new tests. Principals and NAPLAN coordinators will be emailed further information,” the authority said.
The problem appeared to affect students attempting to access the digital testing platform, with reports emerging online of error messages appearing on screens during assessments.
According to reports shared by students and parents on social media, an error message reading “communication to the server has been lost” appeared on devices during testing.
The outage came on the first day of the nationwide tests for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Schools forced to delay tests
As the issue spread, some schools informed parents that testing would need to be delayed.
Erskine Park High School in western Sydney told parents in a Facebook post:
“Due to technical issues with the Naplan online server, a number of schools, including ours, were unable to access Naplan today. An updated timeline will be shared.”
Rooty Hill Public School also confirmed it would postpone its assessments.
The school said it would delay testing until Wednesday due to the “statewide” issues affecting the system.
Locked-down browser requirements
In the lead-up to the tests, parents had been provided with a detailed 35-page guide explaining how the system works, including instructions for installing a locked-down browser used during the assessments.
The software prevents students from accessing other websites or applications while completing the tests.
Schools were told that the browser would typically be installed by technical support staff, though students using their own devices may require assistance to configure the system correctly.
Shift to fully online testing
NAPLAN has gradually transitioned away from paper testing over the past decade. Trials of the digital system began in 2016 before the program moved fully online in 2022.
The only exception remains the Year 3 writing assessment, which is still completed on paper.
Despite the disruption, authorities say the platform is now functioning, and schools can proceed with the scheduled assessments.
ACARA said its technology provider, Education Services Australia (ESA), urgently investigated the outage while testing was paused.
The incident has again highlighted the challenges of delivering large-scale digital testing simultaneously across thousands of schools — a system that must handle millions of logins in a narrow testing window.
For many schools, Wednesday morning’s disruption meant rescheduling sessions and managing anxious students who had already begun their assessments before the platform failed.
Whether the technical breakdown leads to further review of the system remains to be seen, but for now, testing is back underway.
