Year 7 NAPLAN comes early in the first year of secondary school. Six practice questions at the Year 7 level, three numeracy and three grammar and punctuation, easy to hard.
WhenEvery March at school. The 2027 test window is 10 to 22 March.
The testsWriting, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy, all online.
TimingNumeracy 65 minutes and reading 65 minutes. Numeracy opens with questions where no calculator is allowed; once the calculator part starts, the earlier questions cannot be reopened.
ResultsFour proficiency levels for each test: Exceeding, Strong, Developing, and Needs additional support.
Six practice questions, easy to hard
Try each one before opening the answer: the working shows the step where a wrong answer usually goes wrong.
1 · NAPLAN Year 7 · Numeracy · Warm-up
The spinner has equal sectors.
It is spun 150 times. About how many times would you expect it to land on green?
50
60
90
37.5
Show the answer and the working
Answer: B (60)
4 of the 10 sectors are green, so the probability is 4/10. Expected: 4/10 × 150 = 60 times.
Fastest method: Count the sectors of that colour out of all the equal sectors: that fraction is the probability. Expected results = probability × number of spins.
The trap: sharing the spins equally between the colours (the colours do not have the same number of sectors)
2 · NAPLAN Year 7 · Grammar and punctuation · Warm-up
The ____ nest was found behind the feed shed. Which word correctly completes this sentence?
mices'
mice's
mices
mouses'
Show the answer and the working
Answer: B (mice's)
"mice's": The mice's nest was found behind the feed shed. "Mice" is already plural without an s, so add 's.
Fastest method: Write the owner first (one girl or several girls? children?), then add the apostrophe: after the s for a plural that ends in s (girls'), 's for one owner or for a plural with no s (children's). A plain plural that owns nothing has no apostrophe.
The trap: putting the apostrophe before the s when there is more than one owner, or adding one to a plain plural
3 · NAPLAN Year 7 · Numeracy · Middle of the paper
Which of these is the same as 7 × 7 × 7?
7 × 3
3 × 7
7³
7²
Show the answer and the working
Answer: C (7³)
7 is multiplied by itself 3 times, so it is 7 to the power of 3: 7³ = 343.
Fastest method: The small raised number says how many times the base is multiplied by itself: 2⁵ = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2, not 2 × 5.
The trap: multiplying the base by the index (2⁵ as 10)
4 · NAPLAN Year 7 · Grammar and punctuation · Middle of the paper
We will light the barbecue as soon as Grandpa arrives. What job does the clause "as soon as Grandpa arrives" do in this sentence?
It gives the place of the main action.
It gives the reason for the main action.
It tells the purpose of the main action.
It gives the time of the main action.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: D (It gives the time of the main action.)
It gives the time of the main action. "As soon as" tells exactly when the barbecue will be lit.
Fastest method: Swap the joining word for a plain one and see which keeps the meaning: because (reason), when or while (time), if (condition), although (concession), in order to (purpose), where (place). Since, as and while each have two meanings, so read the whole sentence before deciding.
The trap: reading 'since', 'as' or 'while' as time words when they mean 'because' or 'although', or mixing up purpose (so that ... could) with result (so ... that)
5 · NAPLAN Year 7 · Numeracy · The hard end
Lily has a solid wooden prism with 20 vertices. Lily cuts off every corner with small flat cuts. Each cut makes a new flat face where the corner was, and no two cuts touch each other. How many edges does the new object have?
Write a whole number.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: 90 edges
1. A prism whose end faces have n sides has n + 2 faces, 3 × n edges and 2 × n vertices.
2. 20 vertices = 2 × n, so n = 10: the prism has 20 vertices, 30 edges and 12 faces.
3. Each cut replaces a corner with a new face whose edges and corners match the edges meeting there. Every edge has 2 ends, so the cuts add 60 edges and 60 corners, and the 20 old corners go.
4. Edges: 30 + 60 = 90.
Fastest method: First work out the solid (how many sides the end face or base has) and its counts; then count what the cuts add and remove.
The trap: using the 20 vertices as the number of sides, or forgetting that the old corners disappear
6 · NAPLAN Year 7 · Grammar and punctuation · The hard end
The bakery sells three kinds of bread sourdough baked daily rye baked on Tuesdays and spelt baked on Fridays Which option punctuates these words correctly?
The bakery sells three kinds of bread: sourdough; baked daily, rye; baked on Tuesdays, and spelt; baked on Fridays.
The bakery sells three kinds of bread: sourdough, baked daily; rye, baked on Tuesdays; and spelt, baked on Fridays.
The bakery sells three kinds of bread; sourdough, baked daily; rye, baked on Tuesdays; and spelt, baked on Fridays.
The bakery sells three kinds of bread: sourdough, baked daily, rye, baked on Tuesdays, and spelt, baked on Fridays.
Show the answer and the working
Answer: B (The bakery sells three kinds of bread: sourdough, baked daily; rye, baked on Tuesdays; and spelt, baked on Fridays.)
Correct: The bakery sells three kinds of bread: sourdough, baked daily; rye, baked on Tuesdays; and spelt, baked on Fridays. Each item already contains a comma, so semicolons separate the items and commas stay inside them. "The bakery sells three kinds of bread" is a complete clause, so a colon introduces the list (a semicolon cannot).
Fastest method: Find where each item starts and ends. If an item has a comma inside it (a name and a description, a town and a state), separate the items with semicolons. Then check the start: a colon only after a complete clause, never straight after a verb such as 'are' or a preposition such as 'in'.
The trap: using only commas, so the reader cannot tell where one item ends, or putting a colon straight after 'are', 'in' or 'to'
Numeracy: percentages and percentage change, ratio, order of operations, simplifying expressions, area of triangles and parallelograms, angles, coordinates, mean and median, probability.
Grammar and punctuation: abstract nouns, clauses and complex sentences, colons and semicolons, apostrophes, direct and reported speech, consistent tense.
Reading and writing are practised on the site too: reading on passages of the official length, and a weekly writing piece marked on the official rubric.
How the practice works
A free diagnostic first: it finds the skills not yet held and names the step behind every miss.
Then every week: a 20-question practice paper on those skills, a mock on Saturday on the real clock, and a report to you on Sunday.
Marked by code; a wrong answer is worked through step by step before the right one is shown.
Questions parents ask
When is NAPLAN in Year 7?
In March of Year 7, a few weeks into secondary school. The 2027 window is 10 to 22 March.
Is a calculator allowed in Year 7 numeracy?
For part of it. The test opens with questions where no calculator is allowed, then a calculator part follows.
Are these real NAPLAN questions?
No. No NAPLAN test item is reproduced. Each question is an original variation, calibrated on the official item descriptors and the share of children who got each real item right.