NCCD basics
The NCCD 10-week rule: what counts as a week
The NCCD 10-week rule: evidence of adjustments in at least 10 school weeks in the 12 months before Census Day. The weeks add up across terms, except for Extensive. What counts as a week, with worked examples and edge cases.
Updated 25 September 202610 min read
On this page
The NCCD 10-week rule says a school must have evidence that a student received adjustments for at least 10 weeks of school education in the 12 months before Census Day. The weeks are cumulative and can be split across terms, and any school week with an adjustment counts. Extensive is the exception: adjustments at all times, over consecutive weeks.
The rule comes from the NCCD Guidelines, and the official NCCD Quick Guide sets it out under Step 3. A student without 10 weeks of evidence must not be counted that year.
New to the NCCD? Start with What is the NCCD?
The 10-week rule at a glance
The rule works the same way for three of the four levels of adjustment. Extensive is the exception.
| Question | QDTP, Supplementary, Substantial | Extensive |
|---|---|---|
| Do the weeks need to be in a row? | No. They can be split across terms. | Yes. Consecutive weeks. |
| Does the adjustment need to happen every day? | No. | Yes. Adjustments in place at all times. |
| Does any amount of adjustment in a week count as a week? | Yes. | No. |
| Which 12 months? | The 12 months before Census Day. | The same. |
What the NCCD 10-week rule says
The school needs evidence of adjustments for a minimum of 10 weeks of school education in the 12 months before Census Day. The adjustments can range from occasional to all day, every day. The 10 weeks sit inside one of the four areas of NCCD evidence, adjustments, and show the support was provided for long enough to include the student.
- The 10 weeks sit inside the 12 months before Census Day
- The weeks do not need to be consecutive, except for Extensive
- The adjustment does not need to happen every day, except for Extensive
- Any amount of adjustment in a school week counts as a week, except for Extensive
- School-based activities in the holidays, such as a camp or an excursion, can count
- The evidence must still justify the level of adjustment reported
The 10 weeks can build across terms, in any order, anywhere in the 12 months before Census Day. Extensive is the exception: consecutive weeks, with adjustments in place at all times.
What counts as a week
This is the part many schools overcomplicate. For every level except Extensive, any amount of adjustment within a school week counts as a week (Quick Guide, Step 3). The adjustment might happen in one lesson, several lessons, a targeted support block or an assessment task. It still counts, as long as it is documented and linked to the student's assessed needs.
What makes a record count toward a week is a date and a specific adjustment. A diagnosis alone is not enough, and a vague note such as "extra support given" does not show which week the support happened in.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Extra support given. | Tuesday, Week 6 of Term 1: chunked instructions in the Science prac, for working memory. Oliver finished the task with one check-in. |
For more pairs across all four areas, see NCCD evidence examples, weak beside strong.
Counting the weeks: three worked examples
Three sample students counted toward Census Day 2027, expected on Friday 6 August 2027. They are composites, not real students.
| Student | What the record shows | Does it meet the rule? |
|---|---|---|
| Oliver J., Supplementary | A visual timetable before maths transitions, logged in 6 weeks of Term 4 2026 and 5 weeks of Term 1 2027, with nothing over the summer holidays. | Yes: 11 weeks. They are cumulative, so the gap over the holidays does not matter below Extensive. |
| Ruby N., Supplementary | 7 dated weeks of text-to-speech for reading tasks by Census Day. Her learning plan and adjusted work samples show the same adjustment in 3 more weeks of Term 2. | Yes: 10 weeks. The learning plan and work samples are records the school already keeps, and they count. Without them she has 7 weeks and must not be counted this year. |
| Aisha R., Extensive | Full-day adult support recorded in Weeks 1 to 5 and 7 to 10 of Term 2, with nothing recorded in Week 6. | Not as recorded: with nothing in Week 6, the longest unbroken run is 5 weeks, and Extensive needs at least 10 consecutive weeks at all times. Find out whether support continued that week and locate the record, or review the level with the team. |
In every case, the weeks after Census Day count toward the next year's collection.
The Extensive exception
For Extensive, none of these flexibilities applies. The adjustments must be in place at all times, over consecutive weeks, and a small amount of adjustment in a week does not make it a week. The 2026 Guidelines made this explicit; the definition of Extensive and its loading did not change. The NCCD Extensive level covers how to check a record against it.
Holidays, moved schools and other edge cases
The questions that come up most, with the rule for each.
- School holidays: school-based activities in the holidays, such as a camp or an excursion where the school provides the adjustment, can count toward the 10 weeks (Quick Guide, Step 3).
- A student who moved schools: evidence of adjustments at the previous school can count, if similar adjustments continue at the new school (Quick Guide, Appendix 2). Ask for the records early.
- Fewer than 10 weeks: without evidence of adjustments for at least 10 weeks in the 12 months before Census Day, the student must not be counted that year. Look first for other dated records that show the missing weeks.
- A level that changed: report the highest level provided for the minimum 10 weeks, and review levels each year rather than carrying them over.
Records you already keep can show the weeks
Schools are not required to create new or additional evidence for the NCCD; it is sighted in the form it already exists. Any dated record that shows a specific adjustment can show a week. The Quick Guide's examples include a learning plan, timetables showing adjustments or specialist supports delivered, emails to families that show consultation, and team notes that show monitoring and review. Adjusted work samples, teacher planning notes and meeting notes work too.
How the 10-week rule fits with the four evidence areas
A common mistake is treating the 10 weeks as the whole NCCD requirement. It is not. Schools still need evidence across all four NCCD evidence areas. A student can have 10 weeks of logged adjustments and still have a weak record if consultation is missing or monitoring is not visible.
This is why a light routine across the term works better than a late evidence push. If staff are already recording adjustments, consultation and review in ordinary practice, the 10 weeks become visible early instead of becoming a Term 3 panic job.
The school can show the functional impact that led to the adjustment.
Parent, carer, student or specialist input is visible and specific.
The record shows what was provided, when, and at what intensity.
The school can show what changed, what worked, or what was reviewed next.
How to plan for the 10 weeks from day one
The easiest way to handle the 10 weeks is to stop thinking about them as a countdown that starts in July. They build from the first school week, inside the 12 months before Census Day, in which the school provides an adjustment for a disability-related need. For most schools, the practical question is not "How do we create 10 weeks later?" It is "How do we make the weeks we are already delivering visible now?"
- Identify the adjustment early. Name the functional need clearly. Teachers do not need to wait for perfect paperwork before they begin supporting the student, but the rationale for the adjustment should be visible.
- Log the adjustment in plain English. A short, specific note is usually enough. State the adjustment, the learning context, and the effect.
- Keep consultation separate. A parent email, meeting note, or student support conversation should not disappear inside the adjustment log. Consultation is its own evidence area.
- Review as you go. Even one sentence about what changed can strengthen the record. Monitoring matters because NCCD is about responsive support, not static paperwork.
- Watch the gap before Term 3. If several weeks are missing by the end of Term 2, the school still has time to tighten practice. If the gap is invisible until Census Day preparation, the pressure rises quickly.
A tracker makes the weeks visible as they build. With Superadjust you can track each student's 10 weeks from the first entry, rather than counting them up in Term 3. Keeping a spreadsheet for now? See counting 10 weeks in Excel or Google Sheets, with a free template.
Common mistakes with the 10-week rule
These mistakes weaken a record during the 10 weeks.
- Waiting for a perfect 10-week block. The weeks are cumulative for every level except Extensive, so there is no need to wait for one continuous block before documenting.
- Treating diagnosis as evidence of adjustment. A diagnosis can support the picture, but it does not replace evidence that the school actually provided adjustments.
- Logging only when something goes wrong. Strong records also show ordinary support happening consistently, not only crisis moments.
- Forgetting consultation and review. A school can meet the 10-week rule and still have a weak NCCD record if the other evidence areas are thin.
- Applying the flexibility to Extensive. Extensive adjustments must be in place at all times, over consecutive weeks, so gaps in the record matter far more.
What to do next
Next, read the four pillars of NCCD evidence for the structure, NCCD evidence requirements for what a record must show, and NCCD evidence examples for the standard. In the final week before Census Day, run the NCCD Census Day checklist.
Sources
The 10-week rule, what counts as a week, the Extensive exception, holidays and the highest level: the NCCD Guidelines: Effective 2026 Onward and the NCCD Quick Guide (2026 edition, Step 3), published by Education Services Australia for the Australian Government Department of Education. Students who moved schools: the Quick Guide, Appendix 2. No new evidence required: the Department's evidence requirements fact sheet. The worked examples are composites.