Year four students in Solomon Islands had mixed performance in the PILNA subjects compared with previous PILNA cycles. The 2021 students scored lower in numeracy, about the same in reading, and higher in writing than in PILNA 2018 and PILNA 2015. Average scores in numeracy (530) and reading (476) were higher than in the region, whereas the average writing score (476) was lower than in the region (numeracy, 479; reading, 444; writing, 484).

Most year four students (93%) are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standards in numeracy but a lower proportion (60%) is meeting this standard in reading.  Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance is increasing.

In year four, girls scored slightly higher than boys in reading (girls, 480; boys, 471) and about the same as boys in numeracy (girls, 530; boys, 530) and writing (girls, 480; boys, 473). A similar proportion of girls was meeting the minimum expected proficiency levels as boys in numeracy (girls, 94%; boys, 93%) and reading (girls, 63%; boys, 57%).

Year four students in non-government schools scored higher in reading (government, 472; non-government, 486) and writing (government, 474; non-government, 482) than students in government schools. There were no differences in the numeracy scores of students in government and non-government schools (government, 529; non-government, 532).

Year four students in urban schools scored higher in numeracy (urban, 544; non-urban, 528), reading (urban, 504; non-urban, 471), and writing (urban, 598; non-urban, 473) 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.