Despite growing up online, students' digital literacy is declining

Approximately 10,000 students took the NAP-ICT test in May last year. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson) One in three year 10 students and one in two year 6 students reached proficiency standards in new national technology literacy testing. The test is run by the government's curriculum agency as an offshoot of NAPLAN and took place in May last year. The assessment runs every three years and the number of year 10 students rated proficient has fallen by almost 30 percentage points since the 2008 exam. Link copiedShareShare articleAustralian students have recorded their worst-ever results in national tests that measure digital literacy, with just 37 per cent of year 10 students and 50 per cent of year 6 students assessed as proficient. Approximately 10,000 students across both year levels took the test in May last year and were marked on creating presentations, searching for information, analysing data and online safety. The testing showed concerning achievement gaps, with Indigenous students, those living in remote areas, and those with low socio-economic advantage falling well behind their peers. "The 2025 results show a decline in student proficiency in ICT (information communication technology) literacy and continuing gaps between different groups of students," Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) CEO Stephen Gniel said. The 2025 results represent a significant decline from the previous test in 2022 across both year levels. "Just because you have a tool, it doesn't mean you know how to use it; it certainly doesn't mean you know how to maximise its use. That also includes not understanding the risk factors," Mr Gniel said. "These are really important skills for us to teach our children … to identify whether information is fake." Despite the poor results, most students reported they had learned at school how to search for information and assess its trustworthiness, while 80 per cent had been taught about cyberbullying and online privacy. The testing did not include artificial intelligence (AI) skills, but a separate survey conducted at the same time asked the students about how they were using the technology. One in four year 10 students said they used AI frequently to assist with tasks while at school, according to that survey More than 60 per cent of year 10 students and almost a third of year 6 students also said they used AI to generate written content at least once a month. Stephen Gniel says the 2025 results were the lowest since testing began in 2005. (ABC News: Billy Cooper) "This confirms what we see in international research, that AI is being used for schoolwork and it's being used by teachers as well," Mr Gniel said. "We need to make sure AI use is effective and appropriate, rather than just offloading the learning to a machine and [for students] to continue those discipline areas of maths, English, history, science, art." Mr Gniel said learning those fundamentals was the key to completing more complex tasks in later schooling. He also said the next test in three years would likely include AI in some form. Education Minister Jason Clare said he had tasked the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), which provides advice on evidence-based teaching, with getting to the bottom of the results. "These results have been trending down for two decades. At the same time, more and more children have had access to digital technology and devices," Mr Clare said. Mr Clare also said he intended for education ministers from around Australia to discuss AI more broadly at a meeting later this year. "The even bigger question is what AI is doing and will do to learning. The challenge is to support teachers and students to use it safely, ethically and in a way that supports learning, not undermines it," he said. The technology literacy test is formally known as NAP-ICT. Like similar tests for civics and science, this happens less regularly than the annual NAPLAN test of all students, which measures basic literacy and numeracy. Blaise Joseph, a former teacher and director of education at the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), said while the scores were "low", the skills being tested by the NAP-ICT were not as critical to get right at a young age as those measured by other NAPLAN tests. Mr Joseph said the test did not assess AI usage, despite ACARA's survey showing more than half of year 10 students used it monthly. He also said AI had likely made some of the things that were assessed "redundant". "ICT skills … rapidly evolve over time. For example, there are several tasks on the ICT tests which many professionals these days would use AI to complete," Mr Joseph said. "AI has already made lots of basic ICT tasks redundant, so it makes sense for the school system to focus more on fundamental skills like reading and maths that are not going to be radically different five years from now." Blaise Joseph says ICT skills can be improved upon later in life, unl

Despite growing up online, students' digital literacy is declining

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Despite growing up online, students' digital literacy is declining

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