New South Wales students are top performers in national literacy and numeracy tests. The proportion of New South Wales year five students meeting or exceeding the minimum national benchmarks for reading, writing and numeracy in 2006 was among the highest of all States. Only New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria students achieved above the national average for each indicator.

New South Wales places a strong emphasis on helping children to reach their full potential, recognising that improved education outcomes not only lead to satisfying and rewarding lives, but also lift the overall social and economic outcomes for the State.

Literacy and Numeracy by State, 2006
Percentage of Year 5 students achieving national benchmarks

State/Territory1,2	Reading %	Writing %	Numeracy %
New South Wales	90.3	93.9	92.6
Victoria	89.9	96.7	94.9
Queensland	81.2	94.8	85.4
South Australia	88.0	90.6	88.3
Western Australia	92.6	79.8	86.0
Tasmania	94.1	82.7	88.7
Northern Territory	74.5	61.6	70.0
Australian Capital Territory	95.6	94.4	93.0
Australia	88.4	91.9	90.3

Footnotes:
1. The typical average age of students varies by State, from 10 years 2 months in Western Australia, to 11 years 1 month in Tasmania
2. Statistical errors range from 0.1 to 3.1 percentage points depending on State and category
Source: Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, National Report on Schooling in Australia, 2006