NT govt praises strong NAPLAN results

Northern Territory school children have recorded some of the strongest NAPLAN gains in Australia, its government says.

Preliminary results, released on Wednesday, show writing and numeracy scores have risen by 3.24 and 2.68 per cent, respectively, across all year levels while reading scores remain virtually the same.

But the NT still has a long way to go before it catches up with the rest of Australia, its Education Minister Peter Chandler says.

"We have some of the highest rates of disadvantage in the country, and a higher number of children for whom English isn't their first language," he said.

Mr Chandler also said improvement hinged on getting children to attend school regularly.

PRELIMINARY 2016 NAPLAN RESULTS: AUSTRALIA-WIDE

* Reading 0.4 per cent boost to scores

* Writing 0.2 per cent decline

* Numeracy 1.26 per cent boost