The full rollout of NAPLAN student testing online has been delayed a year and state governments are going their own way on a broad review of the scheme.
The decision to delay came at an education ministers meeting in Melbourne on Friday in which state ministers accused the federal government of not showing leadership.
An independent review of the national tests was commissioned after some students lost connectivity and others were unable to log in when the testing took place across the country in mid-May.
The ministers are awaiting the findings and recommendations of the review before finalising the online transition which was to happen in 2020 but has been pushed back to 2021.
Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan says the tests worked for 97 per cent of students, but the government has to ensure the transition is done properly so all states and territories are online.
The ministers will consider how this year's results are reported, given the connectivity issues.
At the meeting Mr Tehan rejected a wholesale review of NAPLAN, but the Victorian, NSW and Queensland governments will press ahead with their own.
"Given the test has been in place for 10 years, it is not only timely but common sense that this (review) happens," Victorian education minister James Merlino said.
"Unfortunately, this was today rejected at Education Council.
"However, we are keen to take a leadership role on this issue."
He said a standardised test was needed to examine how education systems were tracking, but its form needed to be looked at for the sake of students.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said alternatives to NAPLAN should be considered, as it was time to design a "genuinely useful" new test.
Mr Tehan said the online rollout had to be the number one priority.
"Then we can look to a more fulsome review of NAPLAN of where we would like to take it for the next decade," he told reporters.
About 50 per cent of Australian students took the test online this year, with close to 2.2 million assessments overall.
Mr Tehan says the testing is important to see how students are tracking.
"We need NAPLAN. We're seeing our literacy and numeracy rates in this country decline over time, we've got to address that and we've got to make sure we've got the tools which enable us to measure how we're addressing that."
The meeting came just days after Victoria's decision to ban mobile phones at public schools from next year in an effort to tackle cyberbullying and distraction in the classroom.
Mr Tehan has encouraged his counterparts to follow Victoria's lead.
But state education ministers pushed back against the proposal, so experts from France and Ontario, Canada - where phones are banned in classrooms - will brief the next ministers meeting.
The federal government will also create a free phonics check for year one students, so parents and teachers know a child's reading level when they begin school.
Ministers agreed to a review on how senior secondary students are given advice to help their transitions to work and further study.
The ministers will also look at the needs of teachers in classrooms, flagging interest in federal laws to prevent cheating in higher education.
