Audit findings

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NESA publishes an annual audit report on its website of audit findings. All audit information is deidentified. NESA’s program of audits aim to provide confidence that decisions about gaining and maintaining accreditation at Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher level in NSW are consistent and align with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (the Standards) and comply with the NSW Teachers Accreditation Manual (the TA Manual).

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.

We use information from the audit report to inform:

the development of updated resources and advice to support accreditation recommendations and maintenance of accreditation attestations
where NESA can provide support to improve the consistency of accreditation recommendations and maintenance of accreditation attestations
NESA’s ongoing program of audits of accreditation recommendations and maintenance of accreditation attestations
our monitoring processes to ensure schools/services meet all the accreditation requirements under the TA Manual.

Audit reports published on the NESA website for 2020-2022 were conducted under the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy and Maintenance of Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy which were replaced by the TA Manual on 29 November 2022.

Audit Report December 2021

The 2021 Audit focused on gaining and maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation and whether the requirements, roles and responsibilities set out in the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy and Maintenance of Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy (replaced by the TA Manual on 29 November 2022) are being implemented as intended.

The 2021 Audit covered two periods:

1 November 2020 – 31 March 2021 (2021 Audit Round 1)
1 April 2021 – 30 September 2021 (2021 Audit Round 2).

Findings from the December 2021 report (PDF, 29 pages 328KB) will inform the:

revision and development of advice and support materials for teachers, supervisors, principals and Teaching Accreditation Authorities (TAAs) to help teachers select documentary evidence that effectively demonstrates their practice at the Proficient Teacher benchmark and comply with all policy requirements
scope and criteria for NESA’s ongoing program of audits of Proficient Teacher accreditation decisions
review of the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy and Maintenance of Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy (replaced by the TA Manual on 29 November 2022) as part of NESA’s Teacher Accreditation Reform program to implement amendments to the TA Act.

Audit Report December 2020

The December audit focused on the process of gaining and maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation. It determined whether the requirements, roles and responsibilities set out in the Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy and Maintenance of Proficient Teacher Accreditation Policy (replaced by the TA Manual on 29 November 2022) were being implemented as intended.

Findings from the December 2020 report (PDF, 17 pages 248KB) informed the:

development of updated advice and guidance to support the process of gaining and maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation
revision and development of resources and support materials for teachers, supervisors, principals and Teacher Accreditation Authorities (TAAs) to guide the selection of documentary evidence that effectively demonstrates a teacher’s practice at the Proficient Teacher benchmark
scope and criteria for NESA’s ongoing program of audits of Proficient Teacher accreditation decisions.

Audit Report September 2020

The September 2020 audit focused on the process of gaining Proficient Teacher accreditation. It involved qualitative analyses of teachers’ annotated documentary evidence and the descriptions of teachers’ practice provided in their Proficient Teacher Accreditation Reports.

The September 2020 audit (PDF, 10 pages, 202KB) informed updates to advice and resources to support Proficient Teacher accreditation across NSW. It also influenced the criteria for NESA’s ongoing program of audits of Proficient Teacher accreditation decisions.

Pilot audit

In March 2020, NESA completed a pilot audit of Teacher Accreditation Authorities’ (TAAs’) Proficient Teacher accreditation decisions and records.

We used the findings from the pilot internal audit (PDF, 13 pages, 546 KB) to refine the audit criteria and inform the development of preliminary advice to TAAs and the revision of existing resources for teachers.

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