Education and care services rated Meeting NQS or above remains steady at 80%

ACECQA’s latest quarterly National Quality Framework Snapshot finds the proportion of services rated Meeting National Quality Standard (NQS) or above has remained steady at 80% since December 2019.

As at 31 March 2020, 30% of services are rated Exceeding NQS and 42 services received the Excellent rating – the highest rating a service can achieve. The quality of education and care services also continues to improve as almost two thirds (65%) of services previously rated Working Towards NQS improved their overall quality rating after reassessment.

Our NQF Snapshot provides analysis and information on the profile of the education and care sector, the quality ratings of services, and the distribution of ratings by service type, provider management type and geographic location.

“The majority of data in this report covers the period prior to the escalation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia,” said ACECQA CEO Gabrielle Sinclair. “The report demonstrates the high quality of education and care in Australia and the enormous value the sector brings to Australian children, families and communities, especially during this challenging period”.

On 2 April 2020, Education Ministers announced four critical areas for time-limited regulatory action including the suspension of assessment and ratings.

Other changes include waiving fees and charges for COVID19-related applications, fast-tracking qualification waivers, and making rapid operational adjustments as required. These actions were agreed as part of governments’ commitment to supporting services to continue to operate. State and territory regulatory authorities will continue to apply child safety as the primary consideration in regulatory decisions. Ministers noted that fast-tracking qualification and operational requirement waivers is subject to there being no increased risk to the safety of children and staff.

“COVID-19 and the associated responses from governments will impact the volume of new assessment and rating results in our next NQF Snapshot, scheduled to be published in early August,” noted Ms Sinclair.