NAPLAN writing: what markers look for

The NAPLAN writing task looks simple. A child gets a prompt, a topic or an idea, and writes a response. What happens next is less familiar to most parents: the writing is scored by trained markers using a detailed rubric. Knowing what is on that rubric is the best way to understand what good practice looks like.

How the task works

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are given a writing prompt and asked for a response in one text type, either a narrative or a persuasive text. The type is not announced beforehand and there is no choice. Year 3 students write on paper; Years 5, 7 and 9 type on a computer. Time allowed is 40 minutes in Year 3 and 42 minutes in Years 5, 7 and 9.

According to ACARA's description of the writing tests, every marker in the country works from one rubric, is trained in the same way and faces the same quality checks.

The 10 criteria, in plain English

ACARA's marking guides list ten criteria. Here is what each is looking at, in our words.

Nine of the ten are common to both text types, although the rubrics describe them differently for each. Only criterion 4 differs. The two guides score the ten criteria on slightly different scales, so their totals are not identical.

Where the marks sit

Not every criterion is worth the same. In both guides, audience, sentence structure and spelling each go up to 6 marks. That is a useful reminder that writing is not only about big ideas: accurate sentences and spelling are marked directly and carry real weight.

Longer is not the same as better. Length is not a criterion. What the rubric rewards is how well the writer develops ideas, controls the structure and chooses words.

Narrative versus persuasive

Both text types share the same bones. The differences are in what a good one does:

• Narrative. Has an orientation (who, where, when), a complication and a resolution, with a sense of character and place. A narrative that is only a list of events scores weakly on structure and character.
• Persuasive. States a position clearly, gives reasons, and uses devices to convince. A text that only repeats an opinion ("it is bad because it is bad") scores weakly on ideas and persuasive devices.

A small example of the difference

Take the persuasive topic "Homework should be banned". Two openings show the rubric at work.

Opening A: "Homework is bad. I do not like it. It should be banned."

Opening B: "Imagine arriving home at four o'clock, tired and hungry, and facing another two hours at the kitchen table. Homework takes away the time children need to rest, play and be with their families, and it is time to ask whether it should be banned."

Opening B speaks to the reader (audience), puts a clear view in the first paragraph (text structure), gives the start of an idea and uses a device, the picture of a tired child. Both openings have correct spelling and punctuation. The second simply gives the markers more to credit, because it does more of the work the rubric describes.

Common slips that cost marks

• Rushing the ending. A story that stops mid-action or an argument with no conclusion loses marks for structure.
• One long paragraph. Even good ideas lose credit for paragraphing if they arrive in one block.
• Easy words only. The spelling criterion considers the difficulty of the words used as well as accuracy, so a child who only spells simple words correctly can lose out on the top bands.
• Telling, not showing. In narrative, naming a feeling ("she was scared") is weaker than showing a detail that makes the reader feel it.

What to practise at home

You do not need special materials. A child can practise the parts of the rubric:

1. Plan for two minutes before writing: for a story, the character, the problem and how it ends; for an argument, the view and three reasons.
2. Write paragraphs on purpose, a new one for each new idea or new step in the story.
3. Check sentences read aloud: do they sound complete and varied?
4. Leave a minute at the end to check spelling and punctuation.
5. Try both text types, since the type is a surprise.

Timed practice shows how much planning a child can afford. A child who normally writes for an hour will need to see what 40 or 42 minutes looks like.

Where to go next

• Year 3 NAPLAN writing on paper
• Do you need to prepare for NAPLAN?
• Writing practice in NAPLAN-style format is in our free samples, and our guides cover the rest of the test.

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Not affiliated with ACARA or the NSW Department of Education.