ACARA Update, 13 December 2017  

Civics and Citizenship report released

Student performance nationally in Civics and Citizenship for 2016 has remained stable for Year 6, but Year 10 student performance has fallen, a report released today by ACARA shows.

Assessment results

The National Assessment Program (NAP) assessment tests students’ knowledge of important civics and citizenship issues, in a sample of schools across the country. The sample tests are held every three years.

"The national results of the 2016 test show that 55 per cent of Year 6 students achieved at or above the proficient standard, which is similar to previous years," said ACARA’s CEO, Robert Randall.

"However, for Year 10, 38 per cent of students achieved at or above the proficient standard. This is significantly lower than in each of the two previous test cycles (2010 and 2013), but not significantly different from test results in 2007 or 2004." 

Other achievement results from the report show:

• Nationally, at Year 6 and Year 10, female students performed better than male students.

• While the achievement of non-Indigenous Year 10 students has decreased since 2010, the achievement of Indigenous students has remained stable over the same period of time (although there continues to be a significant difference in the mean performance of non-Indigenous and Indigenous students).

• Overall, both Year 6 and Year 10 students from metropolitan schools had the highest scale scores, and those from remote schools had the lowest scale scores.

• No significant difference in scale scores was found between Year 6 students born in Australia and those born overseas. However, Year 10 students born in Australia outperformed those born overseas by 18 score points – a significant difference.

Survey of student attitudes to civics and citizenship

In addition to reporting on student achievement in, and knowledge of, Civics and Citizenship content, the report also provides information from a student survey. This survey assesses perceptions of citizenship behaviours, students’ trust in civic institutions and processes, and students’ attitudes towards Indigenous cultures and Australian diversity. The results of the student survey provide some interesting insights and show:

• Voting in elections was seen as important by 85 per cent of Year 6 and 84 per cent of Year 10 students.

• Participating in activities to benefit the local community was seen as important by 83 per cent of Year 6 students and 78 per cent of Year 10 students.  

• Approximately two out of three Year 10 students indicated that they had collected money for a charity or social cause.

• About three-quarters of Year 6 and Year 10 students reported interest in global issues and in what is happening in other countries.

• Approximately half of all Year 6 and Year 10 students viewed discussing politics as an important citizenship behaviour (55 per cent in Year 6 and 51 per cent in Year 10).

• Since 2013, the biggest and most significant shift occurred for students using the internet to gather news (+16 percentage points for Year 10 and +19 percentage points for Year 6).

“The highest levels of trust in civic institutions at both year levels were reported for the police and law courts, while the lowest percentages of trust were found for social media," said Mr Randall.

"Most students in Years 6 and 10 indicated positive attitudes towards Australian Indigenous cultures, and nine out of ten students endorsed the notion that Australia should support the cultural traditions and languages of Indigenous Australians. Overall, the percentage of students demonstrating positive attitudes towards Australian Indigenous cultures and Australian diversity has increased significantly since 2010." 

To view the report, visit the 'NAP sample assessments' page of the NAP website.