Although all states ranked poorly in the subject, it was by far the worst for the state - with only the Northern Territory ranking considerably lower.

About 24,000 students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in public, independent and Catholic schools underwent the testing in Tasmania over three days in May.

The state ranked reasonably well across all subject areas in year 3 and 5, consistently ranking about fourth compared to the rest of the country.

However it dropped off in year 7 and 9 as the state consistently ranked seventh in seven of 10 subject areas.

In all but two subject areas, year 3 persuasive writing (95.6 per cent) and numeracy (94.2 per cent), Tasmania ranked below the national average - 95.3 per cent and 93.9 per cent.

From 2008 to 2012, the state made improvements in year 3 reading and year 5 reading and numeracy.

And comparing 2011 to 2012, improvements were made in year 3 writing, year 5 spelling and year 7 grammar and punctuation.

Education Minister Nick McKim interpreted the figures relatively positively but said that he was cautiously optimistic of the work that still needed to be done.

``I think these results show we are improving in a range of key literacy and numeracy areas, I'm cautiously encouraged by them but I accept that there's still a lot of work to be done before we get educational outcomes to where they need to be in Tasmania,'' Mr McKim said.

He said that it would be difficult to determine if the $100 million cut from the department in the past two years had impacted on the results but that teachers from all sectors were working hard to improve results.

Australian Education Union president Terry Polglase said that results were comparable to previous years and ultimately it was only a snapshot of a child's learning.

However, he said that it was more reason to make sure the Gonski recommendations were taken on board and increased funding goes to improving primary and high schools and a wider look at the impact of absenteeism, suspensions, cuts to programs and morale.

Opposition education spokesman Michael Ferguson said that no matter what spin Mr McKim put on the figures it could not hide the fact that Tasmania continued to lag behind the rest of the country.

``We believe that Tasmanian babies are born just as smart as any other and yet as they progress through the Tasmanian education system, we see them falling behind,'' Mr Ferguson said.

``It's not good enough for Tasmania.''