Renewal of registration
Section 54A of the Act requires applications for renewal of registration to be made at least nine (9) months before the existing school's registration is due to expire, or at a later date decided by NESA and communicated to the proprietor in writing.
The relevant application form may be accessed and submitted electronically by registered schools logging onto RANGS Online and using the 'Work with Application Forms' link.
This section of the Act also requires a non-government school applying for renewal of registration to demonstrate:
- whether or not the school continues to satisfy the requirements for registration under Section 47 of the Act and
- whether or not, since the school's registration was granted or last renewed, the school has complied with the terms of the registration.
Under Section 57A of the Act the maximum period for which registration may be renewed is five (5) years. Registered non-government schools must continue to meet the requirements for registration for the period of registration.
Section 57A of the Act also makes provision for the NESA School Registration and Accreditation Committee, under delegation, to recommend to the Minister that the registration period of a school be reduced and the school be placed on provisional registration at any time before the expiry of the period of registration of the school if the School Registration and Accreditation Committee is not satisfied that the school is complying with the requirements for registration.
If the school is placed on provisional registration, parents of students at the school must be notified in writing by the school of the provisional registration status of the school and the consequences of that registration status.
NESA risk assessment
Under Sections 50 and 55 of the Education Act, NESA may request the principal or proprietor of a school or proposed school to provide such documentary or other evidence in support of an application for initial or renewed registration as NESA considers necessary based on a risk assessment conducted by NESA.
The outcome of the risk assessment process will determine:
- the breadth and depth of the material to be provided by schools with an application for registration
- whether an inspection visit will be required, and
- where relevant, the material to be reviewed during an inspection visit.
As part of the risk assessment process, applicants for initial registration and principals of currently registered schools will be required to certify compliance with the requirements for registration and, if relevant, accreditation.
In addition to the certification, schools assessed as lower risk will be required to provide material demonstrating a basic level of assurance while schools assessed as higher risk will be required to provide materials related to the risk profile of the school.
NESA's risk assessment process seeks whereever possible to be satisfied of a school's compliance based on the effective implementation of the school's own processes for assessing compliance. In some cases, schools assessed as low risk may not have an inspection visit. Materials demonstrating the level of assurance as described may still be required.
The factors considered as part of the risk assessment process relate to the quality of student learning and the school’s history of compliance including factors such as:
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the accreditation and experience of teachers
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the standard of teaching
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the quality of the educational program
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recent school history of compliance
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enrolment and attendance
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changes to and complexity of the management and operational context of the school.
A risk assessment is based on the information available at the time the assessment is conducted.
At any time, including during an inspection process, the risk profile of a school can change in response to emerging information. Changes to the risk profile of a school may impact on the documentation required as part of an inspection process.
The process of having regard to risk indicators to inform the application and registration process is separate to the process of forming an opinion about compliance. The presence of risk indicators may or may not be an indicator of actual compliance.