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Foundation to Year 2 Maths Review: What Parents Need to Know
Education ministers have asked ACARA to review the Foundation to Year 2 maths curriculum. Here is what is under review and what it means for your child.
Read the guideKey points
Education ministers agreed on 20 February 2026 to task the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) with a targeted review of the Foundation to Year 2 mathematics curriculum [1][2].
It covers four areas: prioritising content, adding detail about each year level, sequencing concepts more explicitly, and introducing foundational consumer and financial literacy [1][4].
ACARA reported to ministers, who agreed to amend the curriculum on 2 November 2026. The revised content is to be implemented in schools from 2027 and by the end of 2029, with each state and territory choosing its own year [10]. What changes is set out in the new Foundation to Year 2 maths curriculum: what changes (/learn/new-foundation-to-year-2-maths-curriculum-what-changes).
Parents need do nothing differently. The current curriculum still applies, and short regular practice at home remains useful whatever the review recommends.
Australia's school curriculum is not usually reopened mid-life. In October 2025, education ministers approved a ten-year review cycle, with the next version of the Australian Curriculum due for approval in 2032 [1]. The early years of maths are an exception: ministers asked for a targeted look at what children are taught in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2, and on 2 November 2026 they agreed to amend the curriculum in response [10].
What did education ministers actually agree to?
At their meeting on 20 February 2026, education ministers agreed that ACARA would commence an iterative review of the Foundation to Year 2 mathematics curriculum [2]. ACARA describes the task as strengthening the curriculum through targeted refinements and clarifications, rather than rewriting it [1]. Ministers approved this narrower approach in October 2025 so that specific parts of the curriculum can be adjusted during implementation, instead of waiting for the full 2032 cycle [1]. ACARA was asked to report back in the third quarter of 2026 [1][2], and ministers agreed to amend the curriculum at their meeting on 2 November 2026 [10].
What are the four areas under review?
ACARA's accepted scope covers four things [4]:
1. Clearer advice on prioritising content. Which parts of early maths matter most, so that teachers know what to spend time on.
2. More detail about each year level. Greater mathematical specificity about what children are expected to learn in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2.
3. More explicit sequencing. Setting out the order in which concepts build, and how they relate to one another.
4. Consumer and financial literacy. Explicit foundational content on money and spending, which is new at this level.
ACARA's chief executive, Stephen Gniel, said the work should help teachers feel more confident teaching the learning area [4].
The financial literacy element has drawn comment. Speaking at a schools summit in March 2026, Gniel framed it as preparing children for "the tricks of the trade around consumer and financial literacy" [5]. Some commentators have argued that emphasising everyday usefulness risks lowering the ambition of the early curriculum [5].
Why review the early years now?
The review follows a long stretch of flat national numeracy results. In its report on the 2026 NAPLAN results, released on 5 August 2026, ACARA reported that the average Year 3 numeracy score was the lowest since 2023, with 62.1 per cent of Year 3 students in the top two proficiency levels and 11.0 per cent in the "needs additional support" level [3]. Numeracy improved in Years 5, 7 and 9 over the same period [3]. Gniel described the Year 3 result as "clearly concerning" [3].
Year 3 is the first year children sit NAPLAN, so a Year 3 result is in part a reading of what happened in the three years before it. That is the stretch of schooling the review covers. Our guide to reading your child's NAPLAN report (/learn/how-to-read-your-childs-naplan-report) explains how the test is reported.
Separate analysis points the same way. The Grattan Institute's 2025 report The Maths Guarantee found that about one in three Australian school students do not reach proficiency in numeracy, and that only 13 per cent of Australian Year 4 students reached the advanced benchmark in the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, compared with 22 per cent in England and 49 per cent in Singapore [6].
Does anything change for my child right now?
No. A review produces advice. Ministers then decide whether to accept it, ACARA writes any agreed changes into the curriculum, and each state and territory decides how and when to implement them. Several states also teach their own syllabus built on the national curriculum, a further step.
So your child's teacher is still working from the current version. Our guide to what the Australian Curriculum is (/learn/what-is-the-australian-curriculum) sets out what that version expects.
What does the current curriculum expect in the first three years?
It is worth knowing the baseline, because the review is about making these expectations clearer rather than replacing them.
By the end of Year 1, children are expected to connect number names, numerals and quantities and order numbers to at least 120; to partition one- and two-digit numbers in different ways, including splitting two-digit numbers into tens and ones; to add and subtract numbers within 20; and to solve practical problems involving simple money transactions [7].
By the end of Year 2, children are expected to order and represent numbers to at least 1,000, apply place value to partition, rearrange and rename two- and three-digit numbers in terms of their parts, and recognise the role of a zero digit in place value notation [8].
The pattern is clear enough: the early years are mostly about understanding how numbers are built, not about speed.
What can parents do while the review runs?
Nothing in the review changes what helps at home, and none of it requires you to be confident with maths yourself.
Keep practice short and regular. A few minutes most days does more than a long session once a week. Our guide to short daily practice (/learn/short-daily-practice-spaced-retrieval-research) covers the research.
Talk about numbers in ordinary situations. The Mathematics Hub, run by Education Services Australia and funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, advises families that "travelling, shopping, cooking and making are all great times to talk about numbers, measurements, shapes" [9]. It also suggests reminding children that it is not about getting it right or doing things fast [9].
Give money a place in the conversation. Whatever the review recommends, handling coins and working out change are already part of Year 1 and Year 2 maths [7].
Use written practice for the number work. Our free maths worksheets (/worksheets/maths) include topic sets for place value (/worksheets/maths/topic/place-value), addition and subtraction (/worksheets/maths/topic/addition-and-subtraction) and money (/worksheets/maths/topic/money).
If you are unsure whether your child is where they should be, is my child on track (/learn/is-my-child-on-track) explains what the curriculum expects at each year level.
How Noooli can help
Noooli provides short daily maths practice, about ten minutes a day, for children from Kindergarten to Year 6, aligned to the Australian Curriculum. Parents can see how their child is progressing. Free printable maths worksheets with answer keys are available at /worksheets/maths, with no sign-up required.
References
1. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, "Changes to the Australian Curriculum Review Cycle", 2026. https://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum-review
2. Education Ministers Meeting, "Communiqué, 20 February 2026", Australian Government Department of Education, 2026. https://www.education.gov.au/download/20190/education-ministers-meeting-communique-february-2026/44112/document/pdf
3. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, "Latest NAPLAN data shows improvements in numeracy levels alongside areas for continued action", media release, 5 August 2026. https://www.acara.edu.au/docs/default-source/media-releases/media-release-latest-naplan-data-shows-improvements-in-numeracy-levels-alongside-areas-for-continued-action-5-8-26.pdf
4. Education Matters Magazine, "Ministers back Foundation–Year 2 maths curriculum review", 5 March 2026. https://educationmattersmag.com.au/ministers-back-foundation-year-2-maths-curriculum-review
5. EducationHQ, "'Deeply unambitious': F-2 maths curriculum adopts controversial new focus", 6 March 2026. https://educationhq.com/news/deeply-unambitious-f-2-maths-curriculum-adopts-controversial-new-focus-206896/
6. Hunter, J., Haywood, A., Parkinson, N. and Petrie, D., "The Maths Guarantee: How to boost students' learning in primary schools", Grattan Institute, 2025. https://grattan.edu.au/report/maths-guarantee/
7. Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, "Year 1 Mathematics: Australian Curriculum Version 9.0", 2023. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/aciqv9/mathematics/curriculum/ac9_maths_yr1_as_cd_alignment.pdf
8. Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, "Year 2 Mathematics: Australian Curriculum Version 9.0", 2023. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/aciqv9/mathematics/curriculum/ac9_maths_yr2_as_cd_alignment.pdf
9. Education Services Australia, "Mathematics Hub: Families", Australian Government Department of Education. https://www.mathematicshub.edu.au/families/
10. Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education, "Communique - Education Ministers Meeting - Monday 2 November 2026", published 5 November 2026. https://jasonclare.com.au/media/communique-education-ministers-meeting-monday-2-november-2026/
Common questions
What is the Foundation to Year 2 maths curriculum review?
It is a targeted review of the maths curriculum for the first three years of school, which education ministers asked the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority to begin in 2026. It covers how content is prioritised, described and sequenced, and adds foundational consumer and financial literacy content.
Will my child's maths lessons change this year?
No. The review produces advice for education ministers, not an immediate change in classrooms. Any agreed changes would then need to be written into the curriculum and adopted by each state and territory, which takes time. Schools continue teaching the current version in the meantime.
Why is the early years maths curriculum being reviewed now?
Ministers asked for the review after several years of flat national numeracy results, including a fall in Year 3 NAPLAN numeracy reported in August 2026. The aim is to give teachers clearer guidance about what to teach first in the earliest years of school.
