March 11, 2026 — Schools throughout Australia have paused NAPLAN testing after technical glitches struck the online platform on the first day of assessments.
Widespread Login Issues Disrupt Writing Tests
Students in years 5, 7, and 9 encountered severe difficulties logging into the system for their writing tasks on Wednesday morning. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority acknowledged slow response times and delays, prompting a nationwide halt.
The Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) confirmed the broad outage preventing logins and directed schools to suspend tests until resolution. “This issue is being urgently investigated by our technology provider, Education Services Australia, who run the platform,” an ACARA spokesperson stated. “Schools have been advised to pause testing while this is being investigated.”
Impact on Hundreds of Thousands of Students
The disruption affects hundreds of thousands of students scheduled for writing tests, which span the first two days. Year 3 students, completing their assessments with pen and paper, remain unaffected.
Authorities have not disclosed the exact number of impacted schools, but ACARA chief executive Andrew Smith highlighted the scale. “Although the number of affected schools was unknown, it was significant enough to cause concern to the state and national testing authorities,” Smith stated.
Concerns Over Fairness
Smith noted potential inequities, as delays could benefit unaffected schools. However, he emphasized safeguards: “The writing test is held over the first two days, so the prompts that you get for writing are protected in such a way that there’s no advantage for taking the test earlier than others.”
Schools Face Logistical Challenges
One secondary principal reported the outage began just five minutes into the year 9 writing task, with students logging out sequentially. “We were advised to pause and postpone just before 10am and will try again tomorrow,” the principal said.
The principal described the fallout as a “logistical nightmare,” especially for secondary schools managing class coverage, room repurposing, and laptop setups. Hundreds of year 9 students returned to regular classes, leaving staff disappointed and frustrated amid high participation expectations.
Testing officials continue to monitor the situation as efforts to restore the platform progress.
