Year four students in Tonga had mixed performance across the PILNA subjects compared with previous PILNA cycles. These students scored similarly in numeracy, slightly lower in reading, and slightly lower in writing than PILNA 2018 students. The average score in numeracy was similar to all previous PILNA cycles, the average reading score was lower than all previous PILNA cycles, and the average writing score was lower than 2018 but higher than 2015. Average scores in numeracy (488), reading (453), and writing (489) were, however, higher than the scores across the region (numeracy, 479; reading, 444; writing, 484).

Most year four students are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standards in numeracy but less than half are doing so in reading; 75% of students were at or above the minimum expected proficiency levels in numeracy and 47% were at or above them in reading. Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance decreased compared with 2018.

In year four, girls scored higher than boys in numeracy (girls, 497; boys, 480), reading (girls, 466; boys, 443), and writing (girls, 496; boys, 482). Also, more girls were meeting the minimum expected proficiency levels than boys in numeracy (girls, 81%; boys, 70%) and reading (girls, 56%; boys, 38%).

Year four students in government schools scored about the same in numeracy (government, 489; non-government, 483), reading (government, 454; non-government, 454), and writing (government, 490; non-government, 486) compared with students in non-government schools.

Year four students in urban schools scored slightly higher in numeracy (urban, 493; non-urban, 483), reading (urban, 459; non-urban, 449), and writing (urban, 493; non-urban, 485) 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.