Year six students in Solomon Islands had mixed performance in the PILNA subjects compared with previous PILNA cycles. The 2021 students scored slightly lower in numeracy and reading compared with 2018, but still higher than in 2015. Their average writing performance was slightly higher than previous PILNA cycles.

The 2021 average scores in numeracy (576) and reading (513), were higher than in the region but the average writing score (500) was slightly lower than in the region (numeracy, 531; reading, 492; writing, 507).

Most year six students are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standards in numeracy and reading; 94% of students were at or above minimum expected proficiency levels in numeracy and 70% were at or above them in reading. Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance is increasing.

In year six, girls tended to score slightly higher than boys in reading (girls, 517; boys, 510) and writing (girls, 505; boys, 496). Girls scored about the same as boys in numeracy (girls, 577; boys, 575). A similar proportion of girls met the minimum expected proficiency levels as boys in numeracy (girls, 95%; boys, 93%) and reading (girls, 73%; boys, 67%).

Year six students in non-government schools scored higher in reading (government, 507; non-government, 536) and writing (government, 496; non-government, 517) than students in government schools. There were no differences in the numeracy scores of students in government and non-government schools (government, 575; non-government, 577).

Year six students in urban schools scored higher in numeracy (urban, 587; non-urban, 574), reading (urban, 549; non-urban, 507), and writing (urban, 524; non-urban, 496) than students in non-urban schools.

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