67% of education and care services previously rated Working Towards National Quality Standard have improved rating

In its quarterly Snapshot released today, ACECQA announced that 67 per cent of children’s education and care services previously rated Working Towards National Quality Standard have improved their overall quality rating at reassessment. 

“Quality improvement is one of the core objectives of the National Quality Framework and services should be congratulated for continuously developing and refining their practices and educational program,” said ACECQA CEO Gabrielle Sinclair. 

“The introduction of the 2018 National Quality Standard (NQS) in particular provides an opportunity for services to reflect on their quality improvement planning processes, especially in areas like children's health and safety, and building meaningful collaborative relationships with children, families and communities.” 

Other key findings from the Snapshot include: 

• 93% (14,691) of 15,766 approved education and care services have a quality rating (note: the proportion of services with a quality rating will not reach 100% at any one time as new and recently approved services may not yet be rated) 
• 77% (11,321) of rated services have an overall quality rating of Meeting NQS or above 
• 33% (4905) are Exceeding NQS or above 
• 55 services are rated Excellent by ACECQA; 36 services are rated Significant Improvement Required. 

ACECQA’s NQF Snapshot provides analysis and information on the profile of the education and care sector, the progress of quality assessment and rating, and the quality ratings awarded to services, including examining the distribution of ratings by service type, provider management type and geographically. (A revised version of the NQS commenced on 1 February 2018. Previous NQF Snapshots have included analysis at the standard and element level – this analysis will be reintroduced once a sufficient number of services have been assessed and rated under the 2018 NQS to allow for meaningful comparisons.) 

Families are encouraged to visit Starting Blocks for more information about their local education and care services. 

Education and care services approved under the NQF include long day care, outside school hours care and family day care services, as well as most preschools/kindergartens.