MOST students can complete 13 years of school without having to demonstrate basic literacy and numeracy skills, says a leading educational assessment expert.

The chief executive officer for the Australian Council for Educational Research, Geoff Masters, says minimum standards of reading, writing and maths should be met by all students before they are awarded an HSC or equivalent qualification.

In his address to the council's annual research conference in Brisbane next week, Professor Masters will raise concerns about Australia's failure to ensure all students have reached basic standards when they finish school.

Professor Masters, who investigated for the Howard government options for a national year 12 qualification, said that while some states, including South Australia and Victoria, were introducing basic literacy and numeracy requirements, NSW had not established specific standards that students had to meet before gaining the HSC.

"Most students can complete 13 years of school and be awarded a senior certificate without having to demonstrate minimally acceptable standards of proficiency across a range of fundamental domains such as reading, writing, numeracy, science, civics and citizenship," he said.

There were, he added, no nationally agreed statements of "what every child should know and be able to do".

International student assessments by the OECD in 2006 showed 13 per cent of Australians aged 15 were below the standard at which students were considered to be at risk of not having the basic skills.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Board of Studies said the year 10 School Certificate - which included students being tested in literacy and numeracy - was a prerequisite for the HSC.