The answers
Frequently asked questions
About the tests
When is NAPLAN?
Over two weeks in March each year. Schools sit Writing on the first day and choose their own days for the rest inside that window, with most going early — your school can tell you the exact days for this year.
Which NAPLAN tests do you cover?
Numeracy, Reading, and Conventions of Language, for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. We don't offer Writing: it's marked by a human against a criteria rubric, and we won't pretend to do that automatically.
Which OC and selective sections do you cover?
For the OC test, all three: Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills. The selective test is those three plus a typed writing task — we cover the three. We don't offer the writing task, for the same reason we don't offer NAPLAN Writing: it's marked by a human against a criteria rubric, and we won't pretend to do that automatically.
How do children enter ICAS or the AMC?
ICAS is entered through your child's school, an ICAS testing centre or an ICAS partner, not through us. The AMC is entered through a school, a home school or a tutoring centre. ICAS runs its subject windows around August. The AMC is usually held in late July or early August. We're practice, not a sitting centre.
Is Meritly affiliated with the organisations that write or run these tests?
No. We build our own questions to the published specifications of those tests. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any of them, and we don't reproduce their past papers.
About the practice
Will my child ever get the same paper twice?
Each paper is put together when your child starts it. Free practice draws from a limited set of questions, so some will repeat. With a subscription, papers draw on the full question bank and steer away from questions your child has recently seen. Questions they got wrong come back for another try.
Why do some questions repeat in free practice?
Free practice draws from a limited set of questions, so some will repeat. A subscription opens the full question bank, with fewer repeats, and questions your child got wrong come back for another try.
How is this different from the official NAPLAN demonstration site?
The official site shows you the format. It doesn't mark your child's work, doesn't explain the answers, and there's only one of each paper. On Meritly, your child sits a fresh full-length paper each time. It's marked instantly, with a worked solution on every question and, with a subscription, a record you can read back.
What is Reasoning?
Practice in thinking itself, for Years 3 to 6 — logical and critical reasoning, constraint puzzles, spatial reasoning, and using a table or chart to decide something. It doesn't lean on content your child hasn't been taught: the difficulty is in the thinking, not the knowledge.
What year levels do you cover?
Maths and English run from Year 1 to Year 12; Science runs from Year 1 to Year 10; Reasoning runs from Year 3 to Year 6, and in Year 3 your child works one level up, on the easiest Year 4 questions. For Years 11 and 12 you also pick your state and course, so a Victorian student on Mathematical Methods doesn't get questions from a course they aren't taking.
What does a session actually look like?
Your child picks a subject or an exam paper, sits it on screen with the timer running, and gets it back marked the moment they finish — with a worked solution on every question. A short practice takes about ten minutes; a full-length exam paper takes as long as the real one.
What kinds of questions are there?
Multiple choice and typed answers across the subjects. Maths, English and Science practice also has some of the on-screen question types NAPLAN online uses: choosing more than one answer, putting items in order, matching pairs and ticking boxes in a table — plus choosing from a drop-down list in Maths and English, and clicking a word in English. Spelling includes dictated words: your child plays a recording and types the word, so headphones help.
How much practice is enough?
For most families: one short session a couple of times a week, plus two or three full-length papers in the month before a test. Beyond that you tend to get diminishing returns and a child who resents the whole thing.
What if my child is behind — or miles ahead?
With a subscription, practice follows them either way, harder or easier, within sensible limits. If you'd rather they stayed on year-level content, you can lock it from your dashboard. Year 11 and 12 students also pick their state and course, so they only see what they're actually studying.
Does practice actually help?
Familiarity helps: children who know the format and the clock, and have used the on-screen ruler, protractor and calculator on the papers that include them, spend their thinking on the questions instead of the interface. Practice also shows you which topics are shaky while there's still time to do something about it. It is not a substitute for teaching, and we don't promise a score.
Do you mark with AI?
No. Marking is deterministic — the same answer always produces the same result. Your child's answers aren't sent to a language model.
About accounts, privacy and payment
Do we pay separately for each exam?
No. One subscription covers every exam we offer, with each child practising what they need next. No per-subject plans, no per-exam add-on packs, no contract.
How do children sign in?
Free practice needs no sign-in. With a subscription, children sign in with a family code, a username and a password. We never ask a child for an email address.
Can I delete my child's data?
Yes. Deleting a student removes their record and their work from the live service, and it ages out of our rolling backups within about 30 days.
Do I need a credit card?
Not for free practice. You'll need one to start a subscription's seven-day free trial. Nothing is charged during the trial, and cancelling before it ends costs you nothing.
What do I get without paying anything?
Practice and full-length mock papers for Years 1 to 10, marked the moment your child finishes, with a worked solution on every question. There's no account, so nothing is saved between sessions, and there's a daily limit. Free practice draws from a limited set of questions, so some will repeat.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes, from your account. Your subscription runs to the end of the period you've paid for.
Why are there ads?
Ads pay for free practice. You'll see them on the pages around it, such as choosing a paper, the results and worked solutions, and our guides. There are none on the page where your child answers questions, and none on subscribers' student and parent pages.
I already have a free account. What changes?
Your account stays, and everything your child has already done stays readable. New practice follows the free practice described above, and you can start a subscription whenever you like.
Still have a question? hello@meritly.com.au
Practise free, no account needed. Every paper is marked the moment your child finishes, with a worked solution on every question.