Year four students in Small Island States had mixed performance in the PILNA subjects compared with previous PILNA cycles. The 2021 students scored lower in numeracy and lower in reading than any other PILNA cycle but had a similar score in writing to PILNA 2018. Average scores in reading (454) and writing (509) were, however, higher than the scores across the region whilst the average score in numeracy (480) was similar to that in the region (numeracy, 479; reading, 444; writing, 484).

Most year four students are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standard in numeracy but only about half of these students are meeting the expected proficiency standard in reading; 63% of students were at or above the minimum expected proficiency level in numeracy and 49% were at or above minimum expected proficiency level in reading. A similar proportion of year four students in Small Island States are meeting the expected proficiency standard in numeracy (63%) compared with the region (67%) but a higher proportion are meeting the expected proficiency standard in reading (49%) than in the region (43%). Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance is increasing.

In year four, girls tended to score higher than boys in numeracy (girls, 496; boys, 472), reading (girls, 484; boys, 435), and writing (girls, 492; boys, 475). Also, more girls were meeting minimum expected proficiency levels than boys in numeracy (Girls, 72%; boys, 59%) and reading (girls, 58%; boys, 44%).

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