Final Placements and the GTPA

For teacher education students enrolled in an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degree, including those enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood/Primary) Teaching degree, there are a few requirements which must be met for the satisfactory completion of your course during the final, Graduate Level placement.

Please use this page to find resources for placement requirements, teacher accreditation, and the Graduate Teaching Performance Assessment (GTPA).

NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA)

The NSW Education Standards Authority is an independent statutory authority reporting to an independent Board and the NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning.

Making sure all children and young people in NSW leave school ready to take advantage of life’s opportunities, as well as to rise to its inevitable challenges, is at the heart of what we do.

We achieve this by supporting the school sectors to deliver the best possible outcomes for students through

  • Approval of initial teacher education courses
  • Accredit teachers across schools and early childhood services
  • Implement Professional Standards for teachers
  • Encourage teachers to gather reliable, valid, and useful information about student learning
  • Deliver the end-of-school external credential and exam
  • And other statewide tests (NAPLAN test administration authority)
  • Develop the Kindergarten to Year 12 curriculum
  • Focus on literacy and numeracy skills
  • Register and accredit schools, monitor compliance
  • Approve providers of courses to overseas students
  • Approve teacher accreditation authorities for non-government schools

All teachers working in NSW schools or approved centre-based early childhood services must be accredited with the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to be eligible to teach in NSW.

Accreditation is granted and managed by teacher regulatory authorities in each state and territory. Links to all the state's teacher registration sites can be found on our Life After University page.

To be granted full accreditation teachers are required to demonstrate that:

  • their teaching meets the Proficient career stage of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
  • they have fulfilled the minimum requirement for professional practice in an Australian or New Zealand school setting
  • they continue to meet the elements of suitability for accreditation
  • they have met any additional conditions which might apply to their provisional accreditation.

The University of New England works closely with the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) to ensure the professional experience program is meeting the Graduate Teacher Standards.

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)

Whether you’re a graduate or an experienced teacher, you’re probably looking to become the best teacher you can be AITSL is here to help improve your practice and grow professionally.

AITSL is not a registered state authority, though can provide you with the national standards you must meet to become a registered teacher.

The National Literacy and Numeracy Test

The National Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education students (LANTITE) provides a valid indication that students have the literacy and numeracy levels expected of a prospective teacher – at least equivalent to the top 30% of the adult population in Australia

This test is a requirement for all ITE students are required complete and pass the Literacy and Numeracy Tests including those enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood/Primary) Teaching Degree.

Early Childhood (EC) students are not required to complete the test, nor are students enrolled in Bachelor of Education (In-service Conversion) degrees.

These tests are administered by ACER. We encourage all students to complete their Literacy and Numeracy Tests as early in their degree as possible to account for any unexpected delays in the testing process.

Students doing Bachelor of Education (In-Service Conversion) PREX304-6 are not required to complete the LANTITE.

There are four testing windows throughout the year, and the process of registering, taking the test, and receiving grades can take up to ten weeks.

The Office for Professional Learning will not confirm or seek placement for you unless we have your passing grades from the Literacy and Numeracy Tests.

Please access the Literacy and Numeracy myLearn Site for more information.

Graduate Teaching Performance Assessment (GTPA)

It is during this final, Graduate Level placement the ITE students will also complete the Graduate Teaching Performance Assessment (GTPA) is a government-mandated requirement for all teacher education students enrolled in primary and secondary teaching degrees. This is an authentic culminating assessment of preservice teachers’ competence in classroom practice assessed against the Graduate Teacher Standards (Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, AITSL, 2011).

In completing the GTPA, preservice teachers demonstrate the complete planning, teaching, and assessing cycle.

Which has been developed with the Accreditation of Initial Teacher Education Programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures, Program Standard 1.2, requires that ‘pre-service teachers … have successfully completed a final-year teaching performance assessment prior to graduation (AITSL, 2015 updated 2018, p. 10).

The GTPA has been developed to meet the requirements of this policy initiative intended to assure quality teacher preparation.

The GTPA must be completed during your final professional experience placement. This will happen through EDCX302, EDCX502, EDCX504, EDSP410, EDSP411, EDSP510, PREX303, PREX304 or PREX560.

For more information please see

For students who remain enrolled under pre-2018 Course Rules, the GTPA will be an ‘extra’ assessment task you must complete and pass. From 2018 rules on, the GTPA will be the main assessment task in your Inclusive Education unit.

An overview of what you will have to do in the GTPA is shown below:

  • Provide data and evidence related to the learning needs of students in the class you are teaching
  • Describe how you used the data and evidence to plan your differentiated lessons
  • Teach the plan and make necessary changes in response to ongoing assessment and feedback
  • Assess students’ work (and keep samples of annotated assessment activities/work samples)
  • Moderate with your supervising teacher to check the accuracy of your feedback to the students
  • Reflect on, evaluate and appraise your practicum experience (e.g., in terms of what you learnt about planning, teaching, assessing, student learning)
  • Analyse your impact on the learning of the class and in particular of three focus students with different learning needs (selected at the beginning of the prac on the basis of the data and evidence gathered)
  • Link your teaching practice back to theory.

As you can see, the content of the GTPA is aligned to teaching practice, and passing the GTPA will stand you in good stead for having your own class of students. It will ensure you experience the essential requirements of teaching.

Advice about primary teaching courses and the GTPA – students undertaking a placement in EDSP510/410/411 from the 24th of April 2023

Primary teaching courses include an AITSL primary teaching specialisation in English/Literacy. Some courses also include a NESA primary teaching specialisation in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, and Language.

Depending on your course, your GTPA must focus on your teaching specialisation:

  • Master of Teaching (Primary) - you MUST focus your GTPA on the primary English KLA
  • Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary) - you MUST focus your GTPA on the primary English KLA
  • Bachelor of Special and Inclusive Education (Primary) - you MUST focus your GTPA on the primary English KLA
  • Bachelor of Education (K-6 Teaching)
    • If you undertake the AITSL primary teaching specialisation in English/Literacy only, you MUST focus your GTPA on the primary English KLA
    • If you undertake both the AITSL primary teaching specialisation in English/Literacy and a NESA primary teaching specialisation in Mathematics, Science and Technology, or Language
      • You focus on primary English and the NESA primary teaching specialisation in your final two professional experience placements – one specialisation per placement. You can choose to focus your GTPA on either primary English or your NESA teaching specialisation area
    • To determine which primary teaching specialisation/s you have undertaken, consider the units you have been completing/have completed:
  • Bachelor of Education (K-12 Teaching) - you undertake your GTPA professional experience in the secondary context, and include a focus on primary English KLA in your primary professional experiences.

If you are unsure what your focus should be in the GTPA, focus on the primary English KLA.

Final Placement Requirements

Two School Rule

NESA requires professional experience in Teacher Education Degrees to be undertaken in at least two school settings. This means that all placements cannot be completed in one setting alone.

Whilst much flexibility has been applied to PREX placements due to Covid and the impact on schools and Teacher Education Students (TES), the minimum two-school rule has not been waived. This is supported by the NSW Council of Deans of Education, Employment Sectors, Principals’ groups, and Unions.

The Office for Professional Learning recommends at least three school settings to gain further experience in different settings.

Advanced Standing

UNE, in accordance with the NESA guidelines for professional experience, cannot grant Advanced Standing for the final unit of professional experience. The ‘final Professional Experience should provide an opportunity for [teacher education students] to consolidate their knowledge of teaching and learning, to demonstrate their capacity to undertake the duties of a teacher and to be assessed as demonstrating all of the relevant Graduate Teacher Standards."

For more information please Guidelines for Advanced Standing page

In Service Placements

NESA has recently conducted a comprehensive survey of the flexible suite of adjustments implemented to support schools, teachers, and universities across 2020-2022.

NESA is extending the current flexible arrangements for professional experience including ITE providers being able to apply for Waivers of Appendix B until the end of 2023.

NESA is currently working with the NSW CDE, Principal Groups, Unions, and the Employment Sectors to determine what adjustments will continue into 2023 and what shape they will take. We predict that these decisions will be finalised by the end of November this year.

To apply for this, you will need to undertake the following process:

  1. Complete the In-Service Placement Form from the PREXUS myLearn Site
  2. Fill in the Waiver to Appendix B
    • Teacher Education Students, who have been granted conditional accreditation, that are currently employed to teach in a particular school and in accordance with Appendix B would be expected to undertake the placement at another school.
    • This waiver may be applied if a conditionally accredited TES’s school supports their retention in the interests of curriculum continuity given the disruptive circumstances experienced by many schools and specific conditions are consistently applied. These placements must be formally supervised and assessed.
  3. Obtain a letter from your employer with the following information:
    • Teaching load and the classes you are teaching
    • Teaching area(s) matches that of your employment
    • Employment status and the length of the contract
    • A statement that it would be detrimental to the school if you are made to go elsewhere for your final placement at this time (employment in a school on short-term contract may mean they cannot meet this provision)
    • An assurance that the OPL's In-Service Placement requirements can be met (independent supervisors, classroom observations where applicable, rigorous teaching load etc.)
    • A statement to say the student will be able to meet the required number of days equivalent to the unit requirements
    • The school is a NESA accredited government or non-government school

4.  Submit this information as one document uploaded to InPlace.

Please note: Students will not be considered for an In-service Placement on the final placement if they cannot meet the two-school rule.