The OLNA is an online literacy and numeracy assessment. It is designed to enable students to successfully meet the Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) requirement of demonstrating the minimum standard of literacy and numeracy.

Minimum standard of literacy and numeracy

To successfully meet the literacy and numeracy requirement, students must demonstrate the skills regarded as essential to meet the demands of everyday life and work in a knowledge-based economy. These skills are described in Level 3 of the Australian Core Skills Framework.

These skills must be demonstrated in:

• Literacy (reading and writing)
• Numeracy.

Prequalification

Students who have achieved Band 8 or higher in any of the three components of reading, writing and numeracy in their Year 9 NAPLAN are acknowledged as having demonstrated proficiency in using a range of ACSF Level 3 skills in that component and will not be required to sit the corresponding OLNA test.

The tests

The reading and numeracy tests each comprise 45 multiple‐choice questions. Students have 50 minutes to complete each of these tests. The writing test is a typed response of up to 600 words. Students have 60 minutes to complete the writing test. The table below provides a quick guide to each test.

Testing window dates

Post-Year 12 sits

Post-Year 12 students can apply to sit the test for each component that they have not demonstrated the standard in. Applications can be made via the WACE after Year 12 page.