A nationwide maths acceleration trial has shown major gains for Year 7 and 8 students who needed extra support, with new data revealing progress equal to one to two years of learning in only 12 weeks.
The Government released the results today as part of its Make It Count action plan, which introduced structured mathematics, an internationally benchmarked curriculum, one million workbooks and textbooks for classrooms, professional learning for more than 22,000 teachers, an hour a day of maths, and phones away expectations.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said the findings confirmed the reforms were helping students in every community.
“Every parent wants their child to feel confident in maths. These results show that students are catching up faster than anyone expected, thanks to strong foundations, clear teaching, and teachers who are embracing the reforms across the country,” she said.
The 12 week acceleration trial involved about 1500 Year 7 and 8 students who were at least a year behind. They received targeted small group tutoring up to four times a week across three models in person, hybrid and online.
Across the first 12 week period, 1381 students achieved the following results.
• Around two years of progress in the in person model
• Thirteen to fourteen months of progress in the hybrid model
• Twelve months of progress in the online model
The strongest surprise came from students who were not part of the trial but were learning under the new curriculum and hour a day maths using the new resources. These students made, on average, a full year of progress in only 12 weeks.
Stanford said this showed achievement was lifting for all children, not only those receiving additional tutoring.
“These results are down to the incredible work of teachers who are implementing these significant reforms. The Education Review Office has already shown early signs of improved engagement in English and maths. This new data confirms that the reforms are reversing years of decline and helping students reach their potential.”
A further 1500 students are now involved in phase two of the programme. The analysis showed similar gains regardless of background, equity index, school or ethnicity.
The Government has committed $40 million to the programme, which will expand nationwide from Term 1 2026, with about 13000 students set to take part. All schools that requested to join have been accepted.
“Our reforms are about ambition, raising achievement, closing the equity gap and making sure every child can succeed. Education is supposed to be the great equaliser. These results show that with the right foundations and the right support, every student can get ahead and be confident mathematicians,” Stanford said.
The trial used e asTTle testing at baseline, week 12 and week 24, measuring four key areas of learning including number structure, addition and subtraction, multiplication and division fluency, fractions and decimals, percentages and proportional reasoning.
