Maintaining Exceeding at A&R still challenging says ACECQA

52 per cent of all centres rated exceeding prior to rating and assessment have managed to maintain their rating afterwards with 36 per cent receiving meeting and 12 per cent working towards according to the latest release of the Australian Children’s Education and Care Authority’s (ACECQA).

The report, which contains multiple data tables focusing on rating and assessment trends, confirms that over time the portion of centres that have been able to maintain their exceeding rating has continued to fall.

In contrast, the number of centres that have managed to maintain their meeting rating has continued to trend higher suggesting a reduced propensity for assessors to reward “meeting” centres with an increased rating.

This trend towards a lower percentage of exceeding centres became increasingly apparent in the first quarter of 2018 after the introduction of new guidance for assessing exceeding centres released by ACECQA.  

Preschool settings continue to have the best combination of quality ratings

Of the four main setting types Preschool services have the highest percentage of meeting and exceeding centres followed by Long Day Care (LDC), Outside school hours care (OSHC) and then Family Day Care (FDC).

Noting the performances over time it appears that of all the settings LDC has had the most improvement although the rate of improvement has stabilised in recent quarters.

FDC continues to be the most challenged setting in terms of centres rated meeting and exceeding.

For Profit and Catholic School governance are over weighted towards working towards

Within the governance classifications, although improvements are evident over time, For Profit and Catholic Schools have the most centres rates working towards closely followed by State Schools.

It is important to note that these classifications include all for settings in each separate category but the individual setting performance split into governance types is not available.

The performance of private not for profits, other not for profits and council run centres across the various settings has maintained a relatively low level of working towards centres over time.

For a closer look at the ACECQA snapshot and associated data please click here.