"Provisional Accreditation" - these are people who hold a recognised teaching qualification, or hold a subject content degree and a teaching qualification. Provisionally accredited people have a maximum of 3 years to meet the Standards at Professional Competence.
"Conditional Accreditation" - these are people in the final year of a course, or who hold a subject degree, but have yet to obtain, or are in the process of obtaining education qualifications. Conditionally accredited teachers have a maximum of 4 years to meet the Standards at Professional Competence.
"Accreditation at Professional Competence" - this means that the teacher has demonstrated the Standards at Professional Competence and has been accredited as such by a Teacher Accreditation Authority (TAA).
"Accreditation Report" - this is the report prepared for accreditation at the level of Professional Competence. It describes the evidence used to accredit the teacher against the 7 elements of the Standards. It is signed off by the Teacher Accreditation Authority (TAA) and the new scheme teacher. The TAA makes the accreditation decision. Following this decision, the report is forwarded to the Institute.
"External Assessors" - these are people who review and comment on the evidence contained in Accreditation Reports. External Assessors are selected by the Institute from within the same school sector as the teacher whose report is being considered. External Assessor's reviews do not affect the individual accreditation decisions made by the TAAs about their new scheme teacher.
"Returning Teachers" - individuals with K-12 teaching experience in NSW schools, who return to teaching following an absence of five years or more, are designated as returning teachers. This applies to teachers who are employed after 1 October 2004.
"Absence from employment as a teacher"- means not undertaking duties that reflect the Professional Teaching Standards as defined under Section 20 of the Act.