24 June 2026

Enhancements to our assessment and rating process

From 1 July 2026, the Education Standards Board (ESB) will introduce enhancements to the assessment and rating process for education and care services in South Australia. They have been designed to provide services with more opportunity to discuss their practice, clarify evidence and participate in meaningful discussions throughout the assessment process.

Services are assessed against the National Quality Standard (NQS) to:

• promote continuous improvement in the provision of quality education and care
• improve knowledge and access to information about the quality of services to help families make informed decisions about their child’s education and care.

Why are these changes being introduced?

Approximately 24 per cent of South Australian education and care services remain rated under the previous version of the NQS. During 2026-27, the ESB will continue to focus on transitioning services to the current NQS, as well as undertaking partial reassessment and re-rating of services who are currently rated as ‘Working Towards NQS’.

Between September 2025 and January 2026, services under the previous version of the NQS received pre-assessment and rating visits. This focused on supporting their understanding of the assessment and rating process and current NQS expectations, as well as monitoring their compliance with the National Law and National Regulations.

These enhancements also provide greater alignment with other jurisdictions’ approach to assessment and rating.

What is changing?

Reduced notice periods
Approved providers and services will receive five business days’ notice of an assessment and rating visit. Notification will be provided by telephone and confirmed in writing where the assigned officer will request the services current Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).

Services will be asked to provide their QIP within one business day following notice of an assessment and rating visit. The QIP should reflect the service's ongoing self-assessment and quality improvement processes.

Under Regulation 56, approved providers are required to review and revise the services QIP at least annually and should not be updated specifically for assessment and rating purposes.

Opportunity to meet your assigned officer
Services will be offered the opportunity to speak with their officer before the assessment and rating visit, either by telephone or video conference.

The discussion is intended to:

• explain the assessment and rating process
• answer questions about the visit
• support services to understand what to expect.

This discussion does not form part of the assessment and rating evidence gathering.

Dedicated post-visit discussions
A key enhancement is the introduction of a dedicated discussion one to two business days following the assessment and rating visit.

The officer will meet with the approved provider by video conference (or telephone if video conference is not available to the service) to discuss evidence gathered during the visit, clarify information where required and provide an opportunity for further professional discussion.

This dedicated discussion supports meaningful, reflective conversations and provides services with greater opportunity to explain their practice and continuous improvement journey.

Quarterly information sessions
As services continue to be assessed and rated, the ESB will be providing regular information sessions to the sector on the assessment and rating process, common areas not meeting or exceeding the NQS.

What can services expect?

Before the visit
Services will receive notification of their assessment and rating visit and asked to provide their current QIP.

Services may also choose to participate in a pre-visit discussion with their officer.

During the visit
Officers will gather evidence through observation, discussion and sighting documentation.

For centre-based services, a full assessment and rating visit will generally take approximately six hours. This may vary depending on the size and complexity of the service.

For outside school hours care services, assessment activities may occur across multiple sessions. This includes before school care, after school care or vacation care programs where relevant.

For family day care services, assessment activities will generally include engagement with the approved provider at their head office and a sample of approved educator residences.

The officer may give some general feedback at the time of the visit, including an indication of any minor adjustments that may be made but will not give an indication of the service rating.

After the visit
Following the visit, both the service and the officer will have time to reflect. The officer will also begin analysing the evidence gathered before participating in a dedicated discussion, which typically takes around two hours, depending on the size and complexity of the service.

The officer may request additional information or documentation where further clarification is required.

Following consideration of all evidence, a draft assessment and rating report will be prepared and issued to the approved provider within three weeks of the visit.  The approved provider has 10 business days to provide feedback on any factual inaccuracies in the report and provide evidence to support their feedback.

Following consideration of all feedback and evidence provided a final assessment and rating report will be issued.

Supporting your service

Keep your QIP current
Your QIP should be a living document that reflects your services ongoing self-assessment and quality improvement journey. It should be reviewed and revised at least annually and available to families and the ESB at any time.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) have resources to support services through the assessment and rating process, including:

• QIP template
• Online course to support the development of a QIP
• QIP Workbook

Engage in self-assessment
Regular self-assessment supports continuous improvement and helps services understand their practice aligns with the NQS.

ACECQA’s Self-assessment Tool will help identify service strengths, areas of compliance, practices that are Exceeding NQS and areas or opportunities for quality improvement. The Tool helps services through the process of self-assessment which can, where needed, inform your QIP.

Regularly review the Guide to the National Quality Framework
The Guide to the National Quality Framework remains the primary resource for understanding assessment and rating, the NQS, the expectations associated with each quality area and what officers may observe, discuss and sight.

Common areas requiring attention
Recent assessment and rating activities have identified recurring challenges in:

• Quality Area 1 – Educational Program and Practice
• Quality Area 2 – Children's Health and Safety
• Quality Area 7 – Governance and Leadership

Services should pay particular attention to:

• medication management processes and expiry checks
• emergency and evacuation rehearsals
• currency of policies and procedures
• communication and governance systems
• staff performance and development processes, ensuring performance reviews are meaningful, evidence-based and tailored to individual staff members.