Levels of adjustment
The NCCD Extensive level: at all times, over consecutive weeks
What the NCCD Extensive level requires: extensive, individualised adjustments at all times, over consecutive weeks. What the 2026 Guidelines clarified, a worked record, and how to tell Extensive from Substantial.
Updated 25 September 202611 min read
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Extensive is the highest of the four NCCD levels of adjustment: for students with very high support needs, who receive extensive targeted measures and sustained, intensive support at all times. It is also the one level where the 10 weeks work differently: the adjustments must be in place at all times, over consecutive weeks, so scattered weeks do not count.
The NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward made that continuity rule explicit. They did not create a new level, change the definition or change the funding loading. The level definitions here follow the Guidelines and the official NCCD Quick Guide, Step 3.
New to the NCCD? Start with What is the NCCD?
What the Extensive level requires
The Quick Guide describes Extensive as very high support needs, met through extensive targeted measures and sustained levels of intensive support at all times. The support is individualised and runs across the student's whole program, not only in selected lessons or activities.
The flexibilities that apply to the other three levels do not apply here. The weeks cannot be scattered across terms, the adjustments cannot skip days, and a small amount of adjustment in a week does not make it a week. The minimum 10 weeks must be consecutive, with the adjustments in place at all times.
Weeks banked
A week banks when it has an Adjustments entry.
What the 2026 Guidelines clarified, and what they did not
The 2026 Guidelines did one thing to Extensive: they made the timing explicit. The flexibility in the 10-week rule does not apply, so the adjustments must be in place at all times, over consecutive weeks. The Department of Education listed this among four clarifications when the Guidelines were published (SchoolsHUB, 8 October 2025), and said there are no changes to the NCCD process for 2026. The other three (documenting why parents were not consulted, confirming an imputed disability is due to disability, and clearer examples of evidence) are in what changed in the 2026 NCCD Guidelines.
What did not change: the definition of Extensive, and its funding loading. In 2026 the full loading at Extensive is 312% of the base amount for a primary student and 248% for a secondary student: $45,137 and $45,086. These are the full amounts used to calculate a school's Schooling Resource Standard, of which the Commonwealth funds a share. Source: Department of Education, Schooling Resource Standard.
Everything else stands: evidence across the four areas of NCCD evidence, disability diagnosed or imputed on reasonable grounds, no requirement to create new evidence, and records kept for 7 years (Australian Education Regulations 2023, s 37), or longer if state rules require.
Extensive and the other levels, side by side
The difference in one table.
| Question | QDTP, Supplementary, Substantial | Extensive |
|---|---|---|
| Must the 10 weeks be consecutive? | No. Cumulative, in any order, across terms | Yes. Consecutive weeks |
| Does any amount of adjustment in a week count as a week? | Yes | No. Adjustments in place at all times |
| Did the definition change in 2026? | No | No. The Guidelines clarified the timing |
| Did the 2026 Guidelines change the funding loading? | No (QDTP attracts none) | No. Still 312% of the base for primary and 248% for secondary |
Term breaks, absences and gaps in the weeks
Because the weeks must be consecutive, a gap in an Extensive record matters more than at any other level. Two questions come up often: do the school holidays break a run of consecutive weeks, and what happens when an Extensive student is away for a week, for example in hospital? Ask your approved authority before Census Day, because the answer decides whether a run that crosses a holiday or an absence holds.
Whatever the answer, make the record explain itself:
- Record the reason for any school week with no support recorded, such as an absence, so a reviewer can see why.
- Check the run of weeks early, not in the final week, so a missing record can still be found.
- If support did not continue, review the level with the team: the evidence may fit Substantial.
Extensive or Substantial? How to decide
If the file shows intensive support everywhere the student learns, moves, communicates and takes part, week after week, it may be Extensive. If the support is heavy but only in some places or at some times, Substantial (essential adjustments and considerable adult assistance at most times, on most days) is usually the better fit. That does not make the student's needs less serious; it keeps the record in line with the descriptor. To check a record:
- Start with the descriptor, not the funding outcome. Ask whether the student has very high support needs and requires extensive targeted measures at all times.
- Read the evidence set as a whole. One strong document is not enough if the rest of the file shows the support only happens at certain times.
- Look across settings. Check class learning, transitions, breaks, specialist support, personal care, communication, behaviour support and safety arrangements where relevant.
- Check continuity. The record should show the intensive support running week after week, embedded and regularly reviewed, not switched on for one subject or one block of intervention.
- Moderate with others before locking the level. The continuity test is easiest to apply when teachers, learning support staff and coordinators look at the same evidence together.
For how to run that conversation, see how to run NCCD moderation. The level depends on the pattern and continuity of the adjustments, not their cost or complexity: specialist staff or high effort do not make a student Extensive on their own.
Two worked records: Extensive and Substantial
Two composite students, first names only. Both need a lot of support. What each week's record contains is what separates them.
| What the record shows | Leo, Year 2 | Ava, Year 5 |
|---|---|---|
| The plan | A personalised plan that covers the whole school day, including breaks | A learning plan for literacy and numeracy |
| Adult support | An aide supports communication and personal care in every session | Heavy support in literacy and numeracy every morning; works on her own with light prompts in the afternoons |
| The weeks | Weeks 1 to 10 of Term 2, consecutive, with a daily support schedule on file and a weekly note from the aide | Support across most weeks of Terms 1 to 3, with one Term 3 week with nothing recorded |
| Consultation | Week 3: a meeting with Leo's parents and speech pathologist | A parent meeting each term |
| Monitoring | Week 8: a plan review with the team | A review at the end of each term |
| The level it fits | Extensive: support at all times, over consecutive weeks | Substantial: considerable support at most times, on most days, but not at all times |
What to review in student records
This table shows what strong evidence looks like, and what may signal the level is too high.
| Record area | What strong evidence looks like | What may signal the level is too high |
|---|---|---|
| Daily support pattern | Timetables, plans and notes show intensive support built into the student's full school day or all relevant settings | Support only appears for one lesson, one intervention block or occasional transitions |
| Continuity | Records run week after week, with no unexplained breaks | Weeks with no record of support at all |
| Adjustment detail | Records describe targeted measures, specialist input, one-to-one assistance or highly individualised program changes | Entries stay generic, brief, or describe Substantial-level support |
| Consultation | Parent, carer, student and specialist discussions explain why this level is needed and how it is working | Consultation is missing, one-off, or not tied to the intensive support being reported |
| Monitoring | Reviews show the school keeps checking whether the intensive measures remain necessary and effective | The file shows support was added, but not checked, refined or reviewed over time |
Continuity is easiest to check when you can see consecutive weeks at a glance for each student.
What strong Extensive evidence can include
The key is not quantity for its own sake. It is whether the evidence clearly links the student's functional needs to an ongoing pattern of intensive support. A short file can still be strong if it shows the need, the measures, the consultation and the review cycle clearly.
- A personalised learning or support plan that shows highly individualised measures operating across the student's program.
- Daily or weekly support schedules that show one-to-one or highly intensive assistance built into the student's routine.
- Consultation notes with parents, carers, the student and specialists that explain why this level of support is required.
- Monitoring records showing the school reviews whether the intensive measures remain appropriate and effective.
- Work samples, behaviour support notes, communication plans, health or safety procedures and specialist advice that together show support at all times.
Common mistakes with Extensive
These misreadings most often lead to an Extensive level the record does not support.
- Reading "at all times" as every minute needing its own note. Schools do not need minute-by-minute records; they need a record set that shows the student's program itself is built around sustained intensive support.
- Assuming specialist staff or high effort means Extensive. The level depends on the pattern and continuity of the adjustments, not their cost or complexity.
- Applying the 10-week flexibility. Scattered weeks of intensive help do not meet the rule; the weeks must be consecutive.
- Carrying the level over from last year. Levels should be reviewed each year against this year's record.
Before the next Census Day: a coordinator check
Use this check to prepare your Extensive student files before NCCD Census Day, expected on Friday 6 August 2027. For the wider job, see the coordinator role.
- Pull your current Extensive list early and review each student against the descriptor and the continuity test.
- Check whether each file shows support at all times over consecutive weeks, not scattered weeks of high-intensity help.
- Where the pattern looks intermittent, moderate the level with the relevant teachers and support staff.
- Tighten records well before Census Day. It is much easier to fix the evidence trail early than to defend a weak classification later.
- Keep a short moderation note explaining why the final level was selected. That improves consistency across your school.
What to do next
Review your current Extensive files against the support pattern in each record. Then check NCCD levels of adjustment and the NCCD 10-week rule to confirm that the level and the evidence match what you report. Checking Extensive files before Census Day? Book a 20-minute Audit Readiness Session with the founder.
Sources
The level descriptors and the 10-week rule: the NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward (section C.3.1) and the NCCD Quick Guide (2026 edition, Step 3), published by Education Services Australia for the Australian Government Department of Education. What the 2026 Guidelines clarified: the Department of Education's SchoolsHUB summary of 8 October 2025. The loading: the Australian Education Regulations 2023 and the Department's Schooling Resource Standard page. The worked record is a composite.