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The content on this page has moved to a new location.
We are migrating our website content to a new location on the NSW Government website so it's easier for you to find and read content.
All teacher accreditation information is now available at nsw.gov.au/NESA.
From 20 March, this page will no longer exist, and you will be automatically redirected to the NSW Government website.
Principals and service directors are best placed to make a professional judgement on a teacher’s practice against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards). Principal or service director recommendations and attestations are crucial as they form the basis of NESA’s decision to accredit in most cases.
A NESA officer will review any recommendation or attestation to not accredit a teacher and will require supporting documents from the school/service as outlined in the NSW Teacher Accreditation Manual (the TA Manual).
To provide confidence that recommendations or attestations about achieving and maintaining accreditation are consistent and reliable, we conduct both periodic and risk-based quality assurance audits to determine whether the accreditation recommendations for Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher:
Where NESA’s audit findings suggest that a principal or service director’s recommendation/attestation does not meet the requirements such as compliance with the TA Manual and/or alignment with the Standards, we may:
NESA responds to identified compliance and quality issues with teacher accreditation recommendations and attestations for Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher through monitoring processes and providing targeted and ongoing support where relevant.
Where there is a pattern of the recommendations not being consistent with quality benchmark criteria published on our website and/or recommendations/attestations not meeting the requirements, NESA may monitor the school’s/service’s accreditation recommendation/attestation processes for a period of time and provide support where appropriate. If a school/service is identified for monitoring, all recommendations and/or attestations will be reviewed by NESA before making a decision.
Monitoring measures from NESA include:
NESA will advise the school/service when monitoring is no longer required.
Where NESA identifies a compliance or quality issue with a recommendation or attestation for teacher accreditation we will:
The quality assurance audits can happen either before or after an accreditation decision is made by NESA at Proficient, Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher level.
The following audits may be undertaken before an accreditation decision is made:
Schools/services will be included in risk-based audits of selected records after NESA has made the accreditation decision based on the recommendation or attestation by principals/service directors. These risks could be informed by:
The outcome of the audit will not impact on the accreditation status of individual teachers. However, we will communicate findings of the audit to the relevant stakeholders including the principal/service director.
We conduct a quarterly audit of a stratified randomised sample of records submitted across all schools/services. Data will include a representative proportion of records from early childhood, primary and secondary teachers from the follow sectors:
The criteria of the audits and an annual audit report are published on the NESA website.
The outcome of the audit will not impact on the accreditation status of individual teachers. However, we will communicate findings of the audit to the relevant stakeholders including the principal/service director.
To ensure accreditation processes are aligned with the TA Manual and the Standards for Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead level, NESA will audit the following records.
We audit Proficient Teacher accreditation records in the teachers’ NESA online account (eTAMS) to determine whether the requirements in relation to accreditation are being met, including that:
Records that we will audit include:
We audit maintenance of accreditation records to determine whether the requirements in relation to maintenance are being met, including that:
Records that we audit include:
For this reason, teachers must retain their Elective PD record for up to 12 months after they submit their maintenance of accreditation.
NESA audits HALT accreditation records in the teachers’ NESA online account (eTAMS) to determine whether the requirements in relation to accreditation are being met, including that:
Records that we audit include:
We audit maintenance of accreditation records to determine whether the requirements in relation to maintenance are being met, including that:
Records that we audit include:
For this reason, teachers must retain their Elective PD record for up to 12 months after they submit their maintenance of accreditation.
NESA may contact the referees entered on the HALT Maintenance of Accreditation Report to verify that the teacher’s practice continues to meet the Standards for Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher.
Schools/services will be notified of the outcome of any audits undertaken involving their teachers.
NESA publishes an annual audit report on its website of audit findings. All audit information is deidentified.
The annual audit report describes the extent to which accreditation recommendations for Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher and attestations for maintenance of accreditation align with the Standards and comply with the TA Manual.
The information from the audit report is used to inform:
If a teacher does not provide the information requested within the timeframe, their accreditation will be at risk of being suspended until they provide the information. Teachers whose accreditation is suspended are ineligible to teach in NSW schools or services.
If the records do not accurately reflect the declaration a teacher made when they submitted their maintenance of accreditation or HALT application, their accreditation will be at risk of being suspended due to misconduct.
NESA will inform the school/service and employer if a teacher is at risk of suspension or revocation.
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