Year four students in Tuvalu had mixed performance in the PILNA subjects compared with previous PILNA cycles. These students scored lower in numeracy, lower in reading, but higher in writing than any previous PILNA cycle. Average scores in numeracy (456), reading (403), and writing (471) were also lower than the scores across the region (numeracy, 479; reading, 444; writing, 484).

About half the year four students are also not meeting the minimum expected proficiency level in numeracy and three out of four students are not meeting the expected proficiency level in reading. Only 54% of students were at or above the minimum expected proficiency levels in numeracy and only 24% were at or above them in reading. Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance has substantially increased.

In year four, girls scored higher than boys in numeracy (girls, 473; boys, 440), reading (girls, 433; boys, 375), and writing (girls, 482; boys, 459). Also, more girls were meeting the minimum expected proficiency levels than boys in numeracy (girls, 62%; boys, 46%) and reading (girls, 35%; boys, 15%).

Year four students in non-government schools scored higher in reading (government, 401; non-government, 417) and writing (government, 469; non-government, 483) than students in government schools. Students in government schools did, however, score higher than students in non-government schools in numeracy (government, 458; non-government, 442).

Year four students in non-urban schools scored higher in numeracy (urban, 442; non-urban, 476) and reading (urban, 397; non-urban, 412) than students in urban schools. There were no differences in the writing scores of students in urban and non-urban schools (urban, 469; non-urban, 473).

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