Benchmarks describe nationally-agreed minimum acceptable standards of achievement in particular year levels - without which a student will have difficulty making sufficient progress at school.

Our state (government system) is developing a statement on standards.

Work and discussion is still in progress, but it is likely to be a statement intended to assist in improving student achievement across the system. It will be an integral part of the EDWA Outcome and Standards framework. The statement of standards is intended to help parents, teachers and the public judge whether a child’s level of achievement is good enough. They will probably be levels of achievement expected at particular stages of schooling. They will be challenging but realistic and only specified at key years of schooling ie Years 3,5,7,10. The Catholic Education office is also working on a process to determine standards for particular years of schooling.