Curriculum Insights and Progress Study: Year 6 Foundation Assessments 2025 Publications

Publication Details

These findings come from the 2025 Curriculum Insights foundation assessments of Year 6 students. They describe patterns across a nationally representative sample.

Author(s): The Educational Assessment Research Unit (EARU) at the University of Otago, and the New Zealand Council for Educational research (NZCER). Report for the Ministry of Education.

Date Published: September 2026

Key findings

Results from the 2025 Curriculum Insights and Progress Study show that 36% of Year 6 students met or exceeded the curriculum expectations for mathematics, 52% in reading, and 38% in writing.

The following tables show the percentage of Year 6 students meeting curriculum expectations in mathematics, reading, and writing for the previous years’ assessments.

Please note, 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.

Table 1: Percentage of Year 6 students meeting curriculum expectations in Mathematics
Year 6202320242025
At or above curriculum expectations 28 30 36
Less than 1 year behind curriculum expectations 17 16 12
More than 1 year behind curriculum expectations 56 53 52

Table 2: Percentage of Year 6 students meeting curriculum expectations in Reading
Year 620232025
At or above curriculum expectations 52 52
Less than 1 year behind curriculum expectations 16 16
More than 1 year behind curriculum expectations 32 33

Table 3: Percentage of Year 6 students meeting curriculum expectations in Writing
Year 620242025
At or above curriculum expectations 33 38
Less than 1 year behind curriculum expectations 16 16
More than 1 year behind curriculum expectations 51 46


Table 4 below shows student strengths and areas for further growth.

Table 4: What do students know, and what needs more focus?
  What most can do What some can do What many find challenging

Maths
  • Order unit fractions.
  • Identify the best estimate for two-digit multiplication.
  • Identify how many thousands are in a large number.
  • Find 25% of a quantity.
  • Identify the largest decimal number.
  • Identify the overall trend in a line graph.
  • Calculate 10% of a quantity.
  • Add fractions with the same denominators.
  • Generalise a growing pattern by identifying the rule for the 10th number.

Reading
  • Use a word in the correct grammatical form to meaningfully complete a sentence.
  • Interpret familiar figurative language in context to infer the writer’s intended meaning.
  • Interpret metaphorical language in a poem to infer the writer’s intended meaning.
  • Integrate ideas across a poem to identify its overall theme.
  • Locating specific detail in a dense text, while avoiding distracting but related information.
  • Evaluate whether something is opinion or fact in a dense biographical text.

Writing
  • Write about a simple, relevant idea with some personal reflection.
  • Group and sequence ideas, using some linking words to help ideas flow.
  • Use a small number of precise words to add detail.
  • Beginning to use details, facts, and examples to develop their ideas.
  • Organise parts of their writing into basic paragraphs.
  • Use a variety of precise words and phrases to add interest.
  • Provide consistent and controlled elaboration.
  • Organise all parts of their writing into coherent paragraphs.
  • Use precise words and phrases with growing control to shape meaning and effect.

About the assessment

Maths: Students completed a computer adaptive assessment covering the breadth of the mathematics curriculum.

Reading: Students completed an online assessment of reading skills and meaning-making.

Writing: Students used a digital platform to write an extended response to a prompt.

Refer to the summary report for more information.

Further information is available on the University of Otago website Curriculum Insights and Progress Study.

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