NCCD explained for parents: what it means for your child at school

By The Jay Way team

Published 24 October 2026 · Checked against official sources 24 October 2026

The NCCD (Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability) is a yearly count that Australian schools report to the Australian Government. It records students who receive adjustments at school because of disability. It’s based on the adjustments your child’s school provides, not on a diagnosis. For each student, the school reports year of schooling, level of adjustment and category of disability, as at 24 October 2026.

The short version: if your child gets ongoing extra support at school because of disability, they may be counted in the NCCD. Your child doesn’t need a formal diagnosis to be included. The school team decides the level of adjustment (four levels) and the category of disability (four categories) using professional judgement and evidence. Student names aren’t provided to the Australian Government, and schools don’t need your consent to include your child, because the collection is required by law. The school must consult you about adjustments.

What is the NCCD?

The NCCD is an annual collection of information about Australian school students with disability. It gives schools, education authorities, governments and the community information about how many students with disability there are, and the adjustments they receive.

An adjustment is an action taken so a student with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as other students. Adjustments can be made across the whole school, in a classroom or for an individual student. The NCCD site lists areas such as teaching and learning, curriculum, assessment, extracurricular activities, the school environment and resources.

All schools that receive Australian Government funding must report NCCD information each year. The NCCD site says new NCCD Guidelines took effect from 2026, so the details can change.

Who is counted in the NCCD?

The NCCD site says a student is counted when two things are true:

their impairment meets the broad definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and
the disability has a functional impact that leads the school to actively address or support their individual education needs, either within quality differentiated teaching practice (and/or monitoring), or through a supplementary or higher level of adjustment.

The school should also have evidence that your child is being given an adjustment for ongoing, long-term needs, and that decisions were made in consultation with your child and/or you. “Long-term” means a minimum of 10 weeks of school education in the 12 months before the collection. Those weeks don’t have to be consecutive, and they can be split across terms.

The NCCD isn’t meant to count every student with a health condition. The site gives an example of a student who wears glasses for mild vision impairment and needs no further educational support. That student isn’t included.

Does my child need a diagnosis?

No. The NCCD FAQ answers this question with a plain no. School teams can use professional, evidence-based judgement to decide a child has a disability, based on reasonable grounds including the functional impact on learning. The site says students counted include those with a formal diagnosis from a health or allied health practitioner, and also students without one who have an impairment that requires an adjustment.

The site also says a personalised learning plan doesn’t mean a child has a disability by itself, but it can be an indicator when it records the teaching adjustments made so your child can access the curriculum. If the school thinks your child might have a disability, it should consult you first.

What are the levels of adjustment?

The school team chooses one of four levels to reflect the type of support your child needs. The NCCD site says the frequency and intensity of adjustments increases through the levels. These summaries come from the NCCD descriptors.

Level	How the NCCD site describes it
Quality differentiated teaching practice	Active monitoring and adjustments not greater than those used for diverse learners, through usual school processes without additional resources.
Supplementary	Adjustments supplementary to what’s available for all students, for particular activities at specific times through the week.
Substantial	Essential adjustments and considerable adult assistance for students with more substantial support needs, at most times on most days.
Extensive	Extensive targeted measures and sustained intensive support for students with very high support needs, at all times.

The level describes the adjustments a student is currently being provided with at school.

What are the categories of disability?

The school team chooses one of four categories to reflect your child’s greatest area of need: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional. If a student has more than one disability, the team decides which has the greatest impact on their education and is the main driver of adjustments, using professional judgement.

The Disability Discrimination Act definition is broad. The NCCD parents page says it includes physical and intellectual disabilities, learning disorders such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

How does the NCCD relate to school funding?

The NCCD site says that since 1 January 2018 the Australian Government has used the NCCD to calculate the student with disability loading for schools. The loading is based on the level of adjustment being provided to students. The site also says the loading does not allocate a specific dollar amount to an individual child. Funding is paid as a lump sum to school authorities, which distribute it to schools under local, needs-based arrangements.

This is separate from the NDIS. The NDIS early childhood approach guideline says the NDIS isn’t responsible for support that is primarily for a child’s educational learning, and that school-age children’s schools provide support for them to learn and develop. You can ask your school what help it can offer.

The NCCD pages say the information provided to the Australian Government Department of Education does not explicitly identify individual students. Student names and other identifying details aren’t provided. De-identified data is published each year, and government officials use it to inform funding policy and programs.

Schools don’t need parent or carer consent to include a student, because the NCCD is required and authorised by law. The parents page says schools and families can’t opt out. The Department of Education says schools must notify students and parents or carers about the collection, and the school’s approved authority must keep the records that support NCCD information for seven years.

If your child moves schools, the new school can use evidence of adjustments from the previous school in the 12 months before the collection, together with new evidence.

What questions can I ask my child’s school?

These questions come from what the NCCD pages say schools do. You can ask them at a regular meeting, in writing or by email.

What adjustments is my child receiving because of disability, and who provides them?
How long have those adjustments been in place?
Which level of adjustment and category of disability has the school recorded for my child, and what was the reason?
How were these decisions made, and how was I consulted? Schools must consult the student or their parent or carer before deciding on adjustments, and record the reason if they don’t.
Does my child have a personalised learning plan? Can I see it, and when will it be reviewed?
If my child is changing schools, what evidence can be passed on?
Who is my main contact if I have a concern, and how will I hear about changes?
What privacy notice has the school given families about the NCCD?

The NCCD FAQ says if you have a concern about how your child’s adjustments have been handled, start by discussing it with the school.

Free tools to help

Appointment question builder: choose “School meeting” to build a printable list of questions about adjustments and how your child is going.
Funding finder: an overview of payments and supports for families. It doesn’t cover school adjustments, but it can help you find other help your family may be able to ask about.

Official sources

This article is general information. It isn’t medical, legal, financial or NDIS eligibility advice. Every child’s circumstances are different, and government programs and requirements can change. Check the official sources above before you apply.