Western Australia students face widening educational gap

New research indicates a widening educational gap in Western Australia between students from advantaged and disadvantaged backgrounds. By utilizing a new methodology to convert NAPLAN reading scores into equivalent years of learning, researchers found that the disparity increases significantly as students progress through school.

In 2026, Year 3 students from disadvantaged backgrounds—defined as those whose parents did not complete school—were more than two years behind their advantaged peers. By Year 9, this gap expanded to six years and eight months.

Andres Molina, a senior research fellow at the Centre for International Research on Education Systems, noted that these persistent inequalities are a feature of schooling across all Australian states and territories. The study, which analyzed 17 years of NAPLAN data, suggests that disadvantaged students are faring worse over time compared to the national average.