Summary

The Curriculum Insights and Progress study was established in 2023 to monitor Year 3, 6 and 8 student achievement and progress in the refreshed New Zealand Curriculum and develop insights that can be used to enable and support system improvement. It is run by the University of Otago and New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

The study has two assessment components:

• Four yearly cycle assessing the 8 learning areas of the curriculum, 2 per year.
• Annual assessment of foundation areas of reading, writing and maths.

In 2023, the foundation areas of reading and mathematics were assessed; in 2024, writing and mathematics. From 2025, reading, writing and mathematics will be assessed every year.

All previous years' results can be found on Education Counts and on the University of Otago Curriculum Insights and Progress Study website.

Mathematics - Key findings

• Overall, 25% of Year 3 students, 36% of Year 6 students, and 24% of Year 8 students met or exceeded the provisional curriculum expectations for mathematics (see table 1).
• Table 2 shows that the proportions of students at Years 3 and 8 meeting or exceeding the provisional benchmarks in 2025 were broadly similar to those in 2024. At Year 6, the proportion increased by 6 percentage points.

Note:  Each proportion shown in the table has a 95 percent confidence interval of approximately plus or minus 3 percentage points.

• Figure 1 uses boxplots to show the distributions of student scale scores on the 2025 mathematics assessment at each year level.
• The solid horizontal lines in the graphic show the provisional benchmark scores for Years 3, 6, and 8. The dashed horizontal lines (from bottom to top) indicate expected achievement at the beginning of Year 3, and end of Years 4, 5, and 7, respectively. They are estimated using the Years 3, 6, and 8 provisional benchmark scores.
• Across all year levels, students attending schools with lower Equity Index (EQI) ratings achieved higher average scale scores than those attending higher-EQI schools. These differences were large and statistically significant.
• In terms of gender, boys scored higher on average than girls at each year level. At Year 6 the difference was moderate while at Year 8 it was small. Both differences were statistically significant.
• Students in Year 3 were more positive about mathematics and more confident in their own mathematical ability than students in later year levels.

Please note that in some tables and graphs percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Reading - Key findings

• Overall, 53% of Year 3 students, 52% of Year 6 students, and 45% of Year 8 students met or exceeded the provisional curriculum expectations for reading (see table 3).
• Table 4 shows that the proportion of students meeting or exceeding the provisional benchmarks in 2025 were broadly similar to those in 2023 at Years 3, 6 and 8.

Note: Each proportion shown in the table has a 95 percent confidence interval of approximately plus or minus 3 percentage points.

• Figure 2 uses boxplots to show the distributions of student scale scores on the 2025 reading assessment at each year level.
• The solid horizontal lines in the graphic show the provisional benchmark scores for Years 3, 6, and 8. The dashed horizontal lines (from bottom to top) indicate expected achievement at the beginning of Year 3, and end of Years 4, 5, and 7, respectively. They are estimated using the Years 3, 6, and 8 provisional benchmark scores.
• Across all year levels, students attending schools with lower Equity Index (EQI) ratings—indicating fewer socio-economic barriers—achieved higher average scores than those attending schools with higher EQI ratings. These differences were relatively large and statistically significant.
• In terms of gender, girls scored higher on average than boys at Year 3 and Year 8. The difference was moderate at Year 3 and small at Year 8. Both were statistically significant.
• Most students report liking reading, though strong agreement declines as the year level increases.
• Most students believe they are good at reading, though confidence declines at higher year levels.

Please note that in some tables and graphs percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Writing - Key findings

• Overall, 41% of Year 3 students, 38% of Year 6 students, and 28% of Year 8 students met or exceeded the provisional curriculum expectations for writing (see table 5).
• Table 6 shows the proportions of students meeting or exceeding the provisional benchmarks in 2024 and 2025. Compared to 2024, a greater proportion of Year 6 and 8 students achieved at or above the provisional benchmarks for their year level. At Year 3, the proportion scoring above the benchmark remained the same.

Note: Each proportion shown in the table has a 95 percent confidence interval of approximately plus or minus 3 percentage points.

• Figure 3 uses boxplots to show the distributions of student scale scores on the 2025 writing assessment at each year level.
• The solid horizontal lines in the graphic show the provisional benchmark scores for Years 3, 6, and 8. The dashed horizontal lines (from bottom to top) indicate expected achievement at the beginning of Year 3, and end of Years 4, 5, and 7, respectively. They are estimated using the Years 3, 6, and 8 provisional benchmark scores.
• Students attending schools with lower Equity Index (EQI) ratings, indicating fewer socio-economic barriers, achieved higher average scores on the writing assessment than those attending schools with moderate or more socio-economic barriers. All differences were large and statistically significant.
• On average, girls scored higher than boys at each year level.
• Across all year levels, most students agreed they liked writing and that they were good at writing.

Please note that in some tables and graphs percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

More information is available on the website of the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study.