Year six students in Fiji had mixed performance in the PILNA subjects compared with PILNA 2018. The 2021 students scored lower in numeracy, about the same in reading, and slightly lower in writing than PILNA 2018 students. Average scores in numeracy (545), reading (522), and writing (513) were, however, higher than the average scores from the region (numeracy, 531; reading, 492; writing, 507).

Most year six students are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standards in numeracy and reading; 79% of students were at or above the minimum expected proficiency levels in numeracy and 71% were at or above minimum expected proficiency levels in reading. Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance is about the same as in 2018.

In year six, girls tended to score higher than boys in numeracy (girls, 551; boys, 537), reading (girls, 533; boys, 511) and writing (girls, 521; boys, 504). Also, more girls were meeting the minimum expected proficiency levels than boys in numeracy (girls, 84%; boys, 74%) and reading (girls, 76%; boys, 65%).

Year six students in urban schools tended to score higher in reading (urban, 531; non-urban, 510) than students in non-urban schools. There were no differences in the writing (urban, 515; non-urban, 510) or numeracy (urban, 545; non-urban, 543) scores of students in urban and non-urban schools.

Experiential and environmental data, as outlined in the contextual sections, may provide some insights into the reasons for these performance trends.