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Apply for PD course accreditation
NESA accreditation of PD courses
NESA Accredited PD courses:
- are accredited for 2 years
- need to be renewed every 2 years
- are to be run by providers once every 12 months
- cannot be advertised as accredited until NESA grants accreditation.
NESA will notify course providers towards the end of the 2-year period that their course is due for renewal.
Accreditation of PD courses is described in the Accreditation of Professional Development Courses Policy (the Policy).
Broadly, potential providers need to show they have:
- capability to provide PD courses
- policies for quality assurance and internal evaluation, and review of course content
- secure record management systems
- current insurance coverage.
How to apply
Read our support information
- Policy
- Principles of effective professional learning (the Principles)
- NESA content criteria.
Complete the application form
You must submit 1 application for each course you want to be accredited.
Choose the form most appropriate for your course:
- For courses and single stream conferences, complete the NESA Accredited PD application (DOCX 104.61KB)
- For multiple simultaneous stream conferences, complete the Multi-stream conference application (DOCX 963.15KB). A multiple simultaneous stream conference has various workshops running at the same time, where teachers must choose workshops to attend.
To help you complete the application form you should read in full the Provider procedures manual (PDF 358.84KB)
Sections 1 and 2: Provider details and course overview
Sections 1 and 2 are to provide an overview of the organisation (the provider) and of the course.
If you are completing an application for the first time or your highest responsible officer (HRO) has changed, you will need to complete a Fit and Proper Persons Declaration (PDF 90.79KB) for the HRO.
Section 3: Course requirements
The purpose of Section 3 is to nominate the aspects, Standard Descriptors, mandatory features, syllabuses and target ages or Stages to which the course aligns. It is also an opportunity for the provider to outline the evidence base and learning goals for the course.
Evidence base
The purpose of the evidence base is to list the research that supports the pedagogical practices described in the course. The evidence base:
- should list the evidence-based pedagogical practices that participants will learn about in the course
- should list a short summary of the references (annotated bibliography) that support the pedagogical practices mentioned above
- must support improved student learning in a school or early childhood learning context.
For more information on the evidence base read the principles of effective professional learning for more information on the evidence base.
Course learning goals
The learning goals list the expected learning that participants will gain from the course. The learning goals should be informed by the evidence base and align to the course content.
Learning goals must be listed in dot points and use the sentence starter 'Participants will'.
Section 4: Course description
The purpose of Section 4 is to describe course content and delivery, so NESA officers can assess alignment with the nominated aspects and Standard Descriptors, and ensure the Principles are met. You should:
- describe the course in chronological order by selecting from the drop-down options provided in the application form, and explain each section of the course
- detail any models, pedagogical practices or teaching strategies, so NESA officers can assess for the Principles.
View a sample application form:
Delivery and assessment of the NSW Curriculum/Early Years Learning Framework, Proficient Teacher, In person or live virtual (PDF 215.1KB) (PDF 215.1KB)
Section 5: Declaration
The purpose of Section 5 is to ensure that providers acknowledge and comply with the requirements of the Policy.
You must answer each question. If you answer ‘no’ to any of the questions, then the course may not be eligible for accreditation.
Submit your application
Save your application as a PDF. Submit your application with the subject line 'Application to deliver a NESA Accredited PD course' to pd@nesa.nsw.edu.au. We will acknowledge your application via email.
The final part of the process is an outcome of the application. NESA will assess your application and advise you of the outcome by email 4 to 6 weeks from the date of submission.
You cannot promote or deliver the course as NESA Accredited PD until you have received a successful outcome notification from us.
Other support materials
Providers can complete NESA Accredited PD provider courses in NESA Learning. Contact pd@nesa.nsw.edu.au for access.
Accredited teachers in NSW can access these courses anytime.
After my application is approved
We will send you an outcome email letter after your course is approved.
This letter will contain specific information on the authorised promotional text to be used. The organisation cannot use the NSW Government waratah logo in any communication.
Only deliver the course in the modes of delivery approved in the outcome letter.
If you are a new provider, we will create a NESA online account (eTAMS) using the details provided in the application form. We will email the HRO and account owner to activate their individual logins.
The approved course will be set up and visible in your eTAMS account.
You need to upload:
- sessions to NESA’s database at least 7 days before the course start date
- teacher participation data to NESA’s database within 30 days of the course end date.
The organisation must comply with all conditions outlined in Section 9 of the Accreditation of Professional Development Courses Policy.
To access the following how-to guides, log into eTAMS and select the eTAMS Help button at the top right-hand corner of the screen.
There are a range of support documents available including:
- How to navigate your PD Providers dashboard
- How to see provider details and contacts
- How to view existing courses
- How to add sessions
- How to add teacher participation.
Participants must complete the entire course to receive the Accredited PD hours. If participants complete a course partially, they are unable to receive credit for any part of the course.
You may negotiate with them to complete learning in another format.
Once you are satisfied that the participant has completed all the learning from the course, you may allocate them the hours of the course duration.
NESA Accredited PD is accredited based on the information provided at the time of application. To make substantial changes to the course, you need to submit a new course application.
A substantial change includes:
- changes to course duration
- adding or removing modules, sections or parts within the course
- alterations to learning goals.
Minor changes, that do not require a new course application include:
- updating data or statistics
- adding, improving or removing activities (ensuring the Principles are still met)
- re-ordering of content, but not changing to the content.
NESA updates resulting in minor changes that do not require a new application include:
- policies
- syllabuses
- Early Years Learning Framework legislation.
When your application isn’t immediately approved
NESA may refer content that is sensitive or difficult to an expert advisory panel.
There are 3 expert advisory panels for the following priority areas:
- Student/child mental health
- Students/children with disability
- Aboriginal education and supporting Aboriginal students/children.
The assessment time is then extended for the application.
The outcome letter you receive will outline why the course was not accredited. Meeting the 8 principles will not guarantee the course will be accredited.
If your organisation wants to resubmit an application, NESA recommends you include in your application, the specific feedback and recommendations on areas that can be refined in the outcome letter.
Alternatively, the course may be logged by teachers as Elective PD.
If there are any questions, you can contact us to arrange a time to discuss your application with a Senior Policy Officer by emailing pd@nesa.nsw.edu.au.
If you are not satisfied with the response from the Senior Policy Officer, you may apply to us for an internal review of the decision, in line with the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997.
To request for an internal review of a decision not to approve or renew, the provider must:
- make the application themselves
- submit the application in writing within 28 days of the date of the written notice of the decision
- identify their grounds for the request
- include relevant documentation that supports the grounds for the review.
Requests must be sent to TAinternalreview@nesa.nsw.edu.au.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to have the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) review the internal review decision.