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As part of the national improvements to assessment and rating (A&R) announced by ACECQA in 2022, the NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority increased its use of partial reassessments from late 2023 and began implementing 5-day notice periods from early 2024.

Increased use of partial reassessments and the 5-day notice period will apply to early childhood education and care (ECEC) services across NSW from 1 October 2025.

The improvements aim to make A&R more effective and reduce administrative load for ECEC providers and services, while providing families with greater confidence around the accuracy and currency of quality ratings.

To ensure assessment and rating continues to provide an accurate reflection of service practice, the regulatory authority sought feedback from services on their experience with these changes.

What services told us about their experience of partial reassessments

• With fewer quality areas assessed, services felt partial reassessments allowed them to demonstrate quality practice in greater depth to authorised officers.
• Partial reassessments were seen as having less impact on daily service operations and staff compared to full assessments.
• Services felt that partial reassessments with 2 quality areas did not adequately reflect their efforts across quality areas.
• Services valued being able to select one quality area for reassessment.

What services told us about their experience of the 5-day notice period

• Services felt the 5-day notice period provided them with the right environment to showcase authentic everyday practice.
• Having shorter notice ahead of their A&R visit meant services had less time to feel stressed and anxious. However, some services reported increased stress levels due to last-minute preparations, including deep cleaning, collating evidence, completing checklists and finalising their self-assessment.
• Overall, services found the 5-day notice period had less impact on their daily operations compared to the previous 12-week notice period.

Responding to sector feedback

In response to sector feedback and to ensure A&R provide an accurate reflection of service practice, from 1 October 2025:

• All partial reassessments conducted by the NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority will consist of 4 quality areas. Partial reassessments with 2 quality areas will no longer occur. This change is intended to better reflect the effort services put into their practice across the quality areas.
• In most cases, services will continue to be able to nominate one quality area for reassessment. Where serious incidents occur, the regulatory authority may conduct a partial reassessment of one or more quality areas as part of its risk-based approach. In these instances, the service will be unable to select the quality area for reassessment.
• The 5-day notice period will apply for all A&R visits in NSW. Services will be advised whether their A&R is a partial reassessment or a full assessment within the 5-day notice period. If a partial reassessment is to be conducted, an authorised officer will contact the service the day before the visit to advise which quality areas will be assessed.

Support and more information

The online is available to support services on their quality improvement journey and to streamline the process of sharing information with the NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority in the lead up to A&R.

For further information about A&R and support available to services, visit Assessment and rating.