Year four students in Tokelau had mixed performance across all PILNA subjects compared with previous PILNA cycles. The students scored lower in numeracy, lower in reading, and higher in writing than any previous PILNA cycle. Average scores in reading (422) and writing (496) were higher than the scores across the region, whereas the average numeracy score (465) was lower than that of the region (numeracy, 479; reading, 444; writing, 484).

Most year four students are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standards in numeracy but not in reading; 68% of students were at or above the minimum expected proficiency level in numeracy, whereas only 31% were at or above it in reading. 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, 483; boys, 449), reading (girls, 460; boys, 390), and writing (girls, 515; boys, 479). Also, more girls were meeting the minimum expected proficiency levels than boys in numeracy (girls, 81%; boys, 57%) and reading (girls, 48%; boys, 17%).

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