Teaching practice
Differentiation vs adjustment: what is the difference?
When does classroom differentiation become a documented NCCD adjustment? Where QDTP fits, a four-question test, and what schools need to record.
Updated 25 September 202610 min read
On this page
Differentiation is the normal teaching variation teachers use for the full range of learners in a class. An adjustment is a response to a student's disability-related need so the student can access and participate in education on the same basis as peers.
For NCCD, the question is not "Did I differentiate?" It is "What adjustment did this student need because of disability, and what evidence shows it was provided, consulted on, and monitored?"
A student can still be counted at the Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice (QDTP) level: the adjustments are minor and sit within quality teaching, but they respond to the student's disability and are monitored.
New to the NCCD? Start with What is the NCCD?
What this page covers
This guide provides a plain-English definition of differentiation, adjustment, and Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice (QDTP). It explains the practical line between everyday teaching and disability-related adjustment, gives examples teachers can use to decide what belongs in NCCD documentation, and highlights common mistakes that make evidence weak or misleading.
What differentiation means in a classroom
Differentiation is part of good teaching. Teachers vary content, process, pace, support, grouping, and response options so students can access the same learning more successfully. It is broad, proactive, and built for learner variability across the class.
That means differentiation is not automatically an NCCD adjustment. A class teacher might offer worked examples, vocabulary support, chunked instructions, extension tasks, visual supports, or flexible grouping for many students at once. Those choices can be strong inclusive practice without becoming a separate NCCD record for every student.
That is why many teachers use varied lesson design before any individualised adjustment is documented. Schools that organise support in MTSS tiers face the same question at Tier 1.
What an adjustment means for NCCD
An adjustment is different because it is tied to disability-related need. Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, schools must make reasonable adjustments so students with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as other students. Those adjustments must be considered in consultation with the student or their parent, guardian, or carer.
For the NCCD, a student must be counted when three things are true: the student is counted in the school's August Census, has a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and the school has evidence of adjustments for at least 10 weeks of school education in the 12 months before Census Day, addressing the functional impact of the disability. The Guidelines expect that evidence to cover four general areas: assessed need, consultation, the adjustments provided, and ongoing monitoring and review. The focus is not on labels alone. The focus is on functional impact and the response provided by the school.
This is why the phrase "differentiation vs adjustment" can be misleading if it is treated like an either-or contest. Sometimes the same teaching move can sit in either category depending on why it is used, how consistently it is needed, and whether it is linked to a student's disability-related access need.
| Question | Everyday differentiation | Documented NCCD adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Helps a broad range of learners engage with teaching and assessment | Responds to a student's disability-related need for access and participation |
| Trigger | Used because of general learner variability, class design, or teaching choice | Used because of functional impact of disability on learning |
| Who it is for | May support many students at once, including students without disability | Targeted to an individual student's assessed need |
| Evidence burden | Does not automatically require individual NCCD evidence | Requires documented evidence of adjustment, consultation, and monitoring |
| NCCD link | Becomes relevant to NCCD only when used as a disability-related adjustment for a specific student | Core to NCCD inclusion when linked to disability and reviewed over time |
Schools can confirm the formal evidence requirements in the NCCD Guidelines and the Department's evidence fact sheet. For what adjustments look like in practice, see examples of NCCD adjustments by functional area.
Where QDTP fits
Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice sits exactly at the point where many teachers get stuck. The NCCD Guidelines describe it as minor adjustments reasonably expected as part of quality teaching or school practice, provided through usual school processes without drawing on additional resources. In other words, the support can still look like strong classroom teaching, but it is being used intentionally for a student with disability and is being tracked as part of that student's support.
That matters because QDTP is not "only differentiation" and it is not "nothing extra". It is still an adjustment level in the NCCD model. The difference is intensity, frequency, and degree. If the student's disability-related need is being addressed through ordinary classroom practice, without drawing on additional resources, QDTP may be the right level.
A practical test is this: if the strategy disappeared tomorrow, would this student lose access, participation, or a fair way to demonstrate learning because of disability? If the answer is yes, you are likely looking at an adjustment, even if the strategy itself feels ordinary or teacher-made. Whether it sits at QDTP or Supplementary then depends on frequency and intensity.
A practical decision guide for teachers
Use these four questions in order to determine whether support is differentiation or a documented adjustment.
- Is the support being used because of a disability-related need, not only because the class benefits from it?
- Is the support helping the student access learning, participate, communicate, regulate, or show understanding on the same basis as peers?
- Has the school consulted the student, parent or carer about the support?
- Is the support monitored over time so the school can show it is being provided and reviewed?
What the answers tell you
If the answer is yes to all four, the support is moving beyond general differentiation and into documented adjustment territory. The next question is the level of adjustment: QDTP, Supplementary, Substantial, or Extensive.
Examples: when differentiation stays differentiation
These examples show when classroom variation remains general differentiation rather than a documented NCCD adjustment.
- A Year 6 teacher gives the whole class a choice between writing a paragraph, recording a short audio response, or making a simple diagram. That is inclusive lesson design. It helps many learners, but by itself it is still general differentiation.
- A teacher pre-teaches key vocabulary before a science lesson because several students are new to the topic. Again, that is differentiation. It is broad class planning, not necessarily a documented adjustment.
- A teacher uses visual instructions on slides because they make lessons clearer and faster to follow. Helpful, yes. Automatically an NCCD adjustment, no.
Examples: when differentiation becomes a documented adjustment
These examples show when the same teaching moves become documented NCCD adjustments because they respond to disability-related need.
- A student with dyslexia consistently receives text-to-speech access, reduced reading load, and alternate response options so reading difficulty does not block access to Year-level content. Those supports may look like differentiated practice, but for this student they are disability-related adjustments and should be documented.
- A student with autism relies on a visual schedule, advance warning of changes, and a regulated low-stimulus workspace to participate successfully in the school day. Those supports may also help other students, but here they respond to a specific disability-related barrier. That makes them adjustments.
- A student with ADHD needs chunked instructions, a guided checklist, scheduled movement breaks, and frequent teacher check-ins that are monitored over time. The techniques may be familiar classroom practice, but their purposeful use for this student's disability-related executive function need makes them adjustments.
- A student with hearing impairment sits where visual access is strongest, uses captioned or written instructions, and receives key information in multiple formats. These are not only good teaching choices in the abstract. They are access adjustments linked to disability.
Strong documentation sounds like this
Weak evidence usually names the activity but not the reason. Strong evidence names the disability-related need, the adjustment, and the effect on access or participation.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Used visual schedule. | Student uses a visual schedule to reduce anxiety linked to autism and to support transitions between activities. Reviewed weekly with family and class teacher. |
| Gave extra support in writing. | Student used text-to-speech and sentence frames during writing because dyslexia significantly affects decoding and spelling. Work completed with improved independence over the last four weeks. |
| Allowed breaks. | Student had planned movement breaks and a checklist during independent tasks because ADHD affects sustained attention and task completion. Strategy monitored through class observations and parent consultation. |
The moment differentiation becomes an adjustment for one student is the moment to record it. Teachers can log it in Superadjust, typed or spoken, and it is timestamped and attached to that student.
Common mistakes schools make
These errors weaken NCCD evidence even when teaching practice is strong.
- Treating all differentiation as NCCD evidence. A strategy used for everyone is not automatically a disability-related adjustment for one student.
- Treating QDTP as if it means no adjustment. QDTP is still an NCCD adjustment level when disability-related support is present and monitored, even if it stays within usual classroom practice.
- Naming the diagnosis but not the functional impact. Evidence should connect the student's need to the support provided.
- Missing consultation. Adjustment records alone are not enough if the school cannot show consultation with the student, parent or carer.
- Logging vague statements such as "modified work" or "gave support" with no detail about access, participation, or review.
Why the distinction matters
Getting the line right matters for three reasons. First, it protects the student. When an adjustment is documented clearly, support is more likely to stay consistent across teachers, terms, and transitions. Second, it protects the school's professional judgement during moderation and verification. Third, it improves evidence quality for NCCD without pushing teachers into unnecessary paperwork.
The goal is not to turn every teaching move into compliance language. The goal is to identify which supports are actually carrying the weight of access for a student with disability, then document those supports clearly enough that another educator could understand them and continue them.
What to do next
Use this page as a moderation tool, not only a definition page. If a support is broad and proactive for the class, it is usually differentiation. If it is needed because of disability, tied to access or participation, consulted on, and monitored, it is a documented adjustment. Then decide the level.