Queensland's Indigenous students are completing year 12 at almost the same rate as other seniors in the state in what has been described as a "miraculous" achievement.

A budget estimates hearing has been told 97.2 per cent of Indigenous students received a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) or a Queensland Certificate of Individual Achievement (QCIA) in 2017, compared to 98.1 per cent of non-Indigenous students.

That is up from 75 per cent in 2013.

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said the results were the best across Australia for Year 12 completion by students from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background.

"That is closing the gap — it is a fantastic achievement and one that we here in Queensland should be very proud of," Ms Grace said.

In 2017, a total of 2,104 Indigenous students completed Year 12, which was a 5 per cent increase from 2,003 students who completed school in 2016.

'Remarkable results'

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) spokesman Chris Ryder said the results were remarkable.

"The achievement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in attaining a Queensland Certificate of Education has been nothing short of miraculous over the last five to eight years, " Mr Ryder said.

Ms Grace says a key reason for the improvement is increased case management at schools. ( ABC News: Patrick Williams )

"It is because of the great work that is going on in schools, people are paying attention to making sure that young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students do well at school and that they offer subjects that meet their needs, abilities and interests.

"The other thing that I would like to point out is that, in the 98 new syllabuses that we have developed, we have developed an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander subject that will be offered at the commencement of 2019 to Year 11 students."

Ms Grace said the key reasons for the improvements were increased case management at the school and regional level, and better information for students about not switching subjects in their senior year.

NAPLAN results tell different story, Opposition says

But Opposition education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie questioned the exuberant praise for the results in light of recent National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results.

He said only 45.7 per cent of Indigenous students achieved or exceeded the minimum standard in the 2017-18 Year 9 NAPLAN writing task, compared to 69.3 per cent of non-Indigenous students.

"That is less than half of Indigenous students achieving the national minimum standard," Mr Bleijie said.

"I'm concerned that we've had commentary here today about outstanding, wonderful, miraculous achievements in the Indigenous space, and yet in Year 9 Indigenous writing is at 45 per cent."

Growing number of Indigenous children in schools

Indigenous educator Darren Godwell, from the Stronger, Smarter Institute, said it was fantastic news.

"A lot of credit goes out to the students and their parents, carers and teachers and school leaders," Mr Godwell said.

He said it must also be acknowledged that it was driven from the grassroots, and not because of formal Government policy changes.

"Indigenous parents and carers have really committed themselves and really understand that the value and importance of a good education, and the schools and teachers are also making efforts to support that interest and engagement by students," Mr Godwell said.

"If we were honest, Indigenous children did not have a great experience at school and really the largest share of what happens in a classroom in a school is down to the teachers and school leaders.

"The enrolments in Year 12 this year are about 2,600 — still small numbers overall — but they're actually the leading edge of a very significant population bubble."

Mr Godwell said the total number of Indigenous children enrolled in Queensland schools was growing year by year.

"The trends actually started several years before the Closing the Gap initiative, so it's important to pay credit to the teachers and Indigenous parents and carers who started this before someone thought it was a good piece of public policy," he said.

Ms Grace said the Government was investing more than $29 million in 2018-19 on Closing the Gap initiatives and recognised the need to improve educational outcomes for the 56,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students currently enrolled in Queensland state schools and those who will attend in the years to come.

NAPLAN results 'show gap is closing'

Education Queensland director-general Tony Cook told the estimates hearing that Queensland was one of the most improved states since NAPLAN was introduced in 2008.

"The gap in the proportion of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at or above the national minimum standard has narrowed since testing began in reading and numeracy for all year levels in Queensland and for Queensland state schools," Mr Cook said.

"Queensland Indigenous students saw some of the best results ever, where Queensland Indigenous students lead the country in all 20 areas of mean scale score and national minimum standard.

"In fact … we have a number of states and territories coming to us and seeking advice from the Queensland department as to what we are doing to support Indigenous students in Queensland schools — we will not rest on our laurels."