Assessment and Ratings

The Rating System

The National Quality Standard is accompanied by a national quality rating and assessment process that reflects a national approach to the assessment and reporting of the quality of education and care services across the variety of service settings.

The availability of this information promotes transparency and accountability and will help parents make informed choices regarding the quality of education and care at a service. Each service will receive a rating for each quality area and an overall rating. These ratings must be displayed by the service and will be published on the ACECQA and the MyChild websites.

There are five rating levels within the national quality rating and assessment process:

Significant improvement required	Indicates that a service is not meeting the National Quality Standard and the regulator is working closely with the service to immediately improve its quality (otherwise the service’s approval to operate will be withdrawn).
Working towards National Quality Standard	Indicates that a service is working towards meeting the National Quality Standard.
Meets National Quality Standard	Indicates that a service is meeting the National Quality Standard.
Exceeds National Quality Standard	Indicates that a service is exceeding the National Quality Standard.
Excellent	Indicates that a service demonstrates excellence and is recognised as a sector leader.

Assessment and rating of services

A key focus of the National Quality Framework is to promote continuous quality improvement. From 1 January 2012, education and care services covered under the Education and Care Services National Law will begin to be assessed and rated against the National Quality Standard. The relevant Regulatory Authority in each state and territory undertakes the assessment and rating process and is the point of contact for any questions services may have about the assessment and rating process. ACECQA will provide oversight of the assessment and rating system.

The cycle for assessment and rating of education and care services is determined by a principle of earned autonomy. That is, the higher an overall rating of a service, the less frequently scheduled assessments will occur.

It is recognised that each rating level represents a band of quality. For example, services with an overall Working Towards National Quality Standard level rating may be very close to a Meets National Quality Standard rating while other services may have only just achieved that rating. In recognition of this variation, the frequency of reassessment is based on the spread of ratings across the seven quality areas rather than simply the overall rating.

A general guide to the frequency of assessment is in the table below. Please note that the expected frequency of assessment below is only a guide and it is the spread of ratings across the seven quality areas that will determine the actual frequency of assessment.

Service rating	Expected frequency of assessment
Excellent	On application and through award for a period of three years.
Exceeds National Quality Standard	Generally, every three years for a full assessment.
Meets National Quality Standard	Generally, every two years for a full assessment.
Working towards National Quality Standard	Generally, every year for a full assessment.
Significant Improvement Required	The regulator is working closely with the service to immediately improve its quality (otherwise the service’s approval to operate will be withdrawn).

Services that receive a rating of Exceeds National Quality Standard may apply to ACECQA to be considered for the highest rating, Excellent.

External Review of rating

An Approved Provider may apply to ACECQA for a second review of the rating levels of an Approved Service after the completion of a review process undertaken with a Regulatory Authority. An application for a further review to ACECQA can only be made on the grounds that the Regulatory Authority did not appropriately conduct the assessment process for determining a rating level, or failed to take into account or give sufficient weight to special circumstances or facts existing at the time of the rating assessment.