Every NAPLAN writing response is read by a trained marker and scored against 10 separate criteria. Each criterion has its own maximum score — they're not all out of the same number, which is where a lot of online guides get it wrong.
A narrative response is marked out of 47. A persuasive response is marked out of 48. Below is each criterion, what markers are actually looking for, and where children most commonly lose marks.
Why this matters: the criteria aren't equally weighted. Sentence Structure, Spelling and Audience are worth 6 marks each, while Paragraphing is worth only 2 (narrative) or 3 (persuasive). Knowing where the marks sit tells you where practice pays off most.
The 10 criteria
1. Audience 0–6 marks
What markers look for: Evidence the writer has a reader in mind. Does the piece hold attention? Does it use techniques suited to its purpose — building tension in a narrative, or appealing directly to the reader in a persuasive text?
Where marks are lost: Writing that reads like a list of events with no attempt to engage. An abrupt opening with no hook.
2. Text Structure 0–4 marks
What markers look for: A clear beginning, middle and end appropriate to the genre. Narratives need an orientation, complication and resolution; persuasive texts need an introduction, developed argument and conclusion.
Where marks are lost: Stories that stop mid-event because time ran out. Persuasive pieces with no conclusion. This is the criterion most damaged by poor time management.
3. Ideas 0–5 marks
What markers look for: Ideas that are relevant, developed and — at the higher levels — original. Depth counts more than quantity: one idea explored well beats five listed briefly.
Where marks are lost: Ideas mentioned but never developed. Drifting away from the prompt.
4a. Character & Setting 0–4 marks (narrative)
What markers look for: Characters with some depth — motivation, reaction, change — and a setting the reader can picture. Describing using more than one sense is a reliable way to lift this score.
Where marks are lost: Named characters who do things but reveal nothing about who they are. Settings mentioned in passing ("at the beach") without any description.
4b. Persuasive Devices 0–4 marks (persuasive)
What markers look for: Deliberate techniques used to convince — rhetorical questions, high modality words (must, essential, undeniable), appeals to the reader, evidence and examples.
Where marks are lost: Stating an opinion repeatedly without any technique to strengthen it.
5. Vocabulary 0–5 marks
What markers look for: Precise, varied word choice used correctly. Markers reward the right word, not the longest one.
Where marks are lost: Repetition of simple verbs — especially said, went, got, nice, big. Also ambitious words used incorrectly, which can score lower than simpler accurate ones.
6. Cohesion 0–4 marks
What markers look for: Whether the piece flows as a connected whole — sensible links between sentences and paragraphs, consistent tense, and pronouns whose reference is always clear.
Where marks are lost: Slipping between past and present tense. Overusing then… then… then…. Unclear "he" or "it" where the reader can't tell who's meant.
7. Paragraphing 0–2 narrative · 0–3 persuasive
What markers look for: Paragraphs that group related ideas and change at logical points — a new setting, a time shift, a new speaker, or a new argument.
Where marks are lost: One unbroken block of text. This is one of the easiest marks to gain and one of the most commonly missed.
8. Sentence Structure 0–6 marks
What markers look for: Correct, complete sentences with variety in both length and opening. Simple, compound and complex sentences used purposefully.
Where marks are lost: Run-on sentences joined endlessly by and. Every sentence starting the same way. Sentence fragments. Worth 6 marks — one of the highest-value criteria.
9. Punctuation 0–5 marks
What markers look for: Accurate sentence punctuation first (capitals and full stops), then commas, apostrophes and speech marks used correctly.
Where marks are lost: Missing full stops. Apostrophes in plurals. Dialogue written without speech marks.
10. Spelling 0–6 marks
What markers look for: Correct spelling across increasingly difficult words. Markers consider the difficulty of the words attempted, not just the error count.
Where marks are lost: Common high-frequency errors — their/there/they're, your/you're, because, friend. Worth 6 marks, so it's more valuable than most parents expect.
Where the marks really are
Add it up and a pattern emerges. Three criteria carry 6 marks each — Audience, Sentence Structure and Spelling — totalling 18 of the 47 or 48 available. That's well over a third of the score sitting in engagement, sentence control and spelling accuracy.
Meanwhile the criteria children most often neglect — Paragraphing, Cohesion and Punctuation — are worth 11 or 12 combined, and they're the most mechanical to fix. A child who simply starts a new paragraph when the scene changes, keeps their tense consistent, and checks their full stops can pick up marks quickly without becoming a better storyteller.
The practical takeaway: if your child's writing is imaginative but scores lower than you'd expect, the gap is almost always in the mechanical criteria — not in ideas. Those are the fastest to improve with feedback.
See your child's writing marked on all 10 criteria
Brightstar gives a score for every criterion, specific praise, and one clear thing to improve — free, with no signup.
Try AI writing feedback →How the score becomes a result
Marks across the 10 criteria are combined into an overall writing score, which is then reported as one of four proficiency levels: Exceeding, Strong, Developing, or Needs additional support. NAPLAN retired the old 10-band scale in 2023, so any resource still describing "Band 6 writing" predates the current system.