Computer glitch affects thousands of students during NAPLAN test

Students sitting today’s NAPLAN test online were affected by a nationwide system glitch half way through the exam.

In Western Australia, several hundred schools experienced delays with the online test, according to a WA Department of Education spokesperson.

“We are aware that a number of schools across Australia - both public and private -experienced delays logging on and accessing NAPLAN tests today,” the spokesperson confirmed.

They said the glitch appeared to be because of a connection issue related to the firewall of Educational Services Australia, which affected the NAPLAN platform.

According to the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, parents reported the system went down for up to four minutes during the exam time.

“A number of schools have experienced some connectivity issues on the first day of NAPLAN,” an ACARA spokesperson told 9News.

“There are procedures in place to manage issues and tests can be paused, resumed and rescheduled if any issues arise.”

Parents reported the system kept timing out and when it eventually reconnected, their child had lost half a page of work they had already completed.

About 50 per cent of the tests were conducted online today, up from 15 per cent last year.

ACARA confirmed more than 350,000 tests were successfully submitted online and the system glitch was “regrettable”.

Earlier, a number of schools had expressed concerns about the online testing method because students were struggling to log on to the online testing platform, some taking 30 minutes just to gain access.

All schools participating in this year’s test were given backup hard copies of the exam