Table CRT6.1 shows the Solomon Islands distribution of year six reading scores against the PILNA reading proficiency scale. This scale converts a student’s reading performance into a level ranking from zero to eight. The expected minimum reading performance for year six students is proficiency level five. Pacific stakeholders expect these students to reach or exceed this proficiency level.

The average performance of year six students in Solomon Islands in reading was 513.47 (SD = 55.14). This corresponds to proficiency level six on the PILNA reading proficiency scale (level six is assigned to scores 512.5–537.5). On average, year six students in Solomon Islands are meeting the minimum expected standard in reading (Figure CRF6.9).

The average reading score does not tell us the whole story. The proportion of students who are meeting the minimum expected standard is also important. This is shown in Table CRT6.2. Approximately 70% of year six students in Solomon Islands were performing at or above the minimum expected level in reading (levels 5–8) and about 30% did not meet this level (levels 0–4). This shows that most year six students assessed in 2021 are meeting the minimum expected standard, but two out of five are not. Also shown in Table CRT6.2, is the significant proportion of year six students who scored at level seven (26%), the second highest level on the reading scale.

On average, year six students in Solomon Islands (513) are scoring higher in reading than year six students in the region (492). Also, about 70% of year six students met or exceeded the expected minimum reading proficiency levels, compared with 53% across the region.

Table CRT6.2 - Stacked bar chart with colour-coding to show what levels are above and below expected performance.