Professional Experience Agreement (PEA)
The department and initial teacher education providers (ITEP) work in partnership to ensure consistent quality professional experience placements for pre-service teachers at NSW public schools.
The department’s partnership with each ITEP is governed by the Professional Experience Agreement (PEA) which sets out the roles and responsibilities of the department and the ITEP, including the effective and efficient coordination of placement allocation, and where applicable, the agreement regarding participation in the Professional Experience Hub program.
Establishing a PEA is a requirement of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) set out in the Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and ProceduresExternal link, and a condition for professional experience placements at NSW public schools.
The term of the current PEA is 2025-27, concluding on 31 December 2027.
As of March 2025, the department has signed Professional Experience Agreements with the following ITEPs:
| ITEP |
|---|
| Alphacrucis University College |
| Australian Catholic University |
| Australian College of Christian Studies |
| Australian College of Physical Education |
| Avondale University |
| Central Queensland University |
| Charles Darwin University |
| Charles Sturt University |
| Curtin University |
| Deakin University |
| Edith Cowan University |
| Excelsia College |
| Federation University Australia |
| Flinders University |
| Griffith University |
| James Cook University |
| La Trobe University |
| Macquarie University |
| Monash University |
| Murdoch University |
| Southern Cross University |
| Swinburne University of Technology |
| The University of Sydney |
| The University of Western Australia |
| University of Canberra |
| University of Melbourne |
| University of New England |
| University of New South Wales |
| University of Newcastle |
| University of Notre Dame Australia |
| University of South Australia |
| University of Southern Queensland |
| University of Tasmania |
| University of Technology Sydney |
| University of the Sunshine Coast |
| University of Wollongong |
| Victoria University |
| Western Sydney University |
The NSW Department of Education and ITEPs across Australia have agreed protocols for how ITEPs should contact schools to arrange professional experience placements for pre-service teachers.
The protocols are set out in Schedule 1 of the Professional Experience Agreement (PEA).
Why use the protocols?
- Clarity – ITEPs understand how to interact with schools when requesting placements.
- Consistency – the process is standardised across ITEPs, reducing the workload for schools.
What are the protocols?
- Partnership approach – ITEPs should build and maintain relationships with schools. This partnership helps make the placement process smoother and reduces unnecessary work for both sides.
- No direct contact from Pre-service Teachers – Only ITEP staff should contact schools to arrange placements. Pre-service teachers should not reach out to schools themselves.
- Principal's decision – The school principal decides if the school can host a pre-service teacher at any time, including the number of pre-service teachers to be hosted.
- No mass emails – ITEPs should contact schools in a targeted manner based on alignment with placement needs, locations and preferences of pre-service teachers. ITEPs should not send out mass emails to all schools.
- Contact the Professional Experience (PEX) coordinator – The department has identified PEX coordinators across its schools and shared their contact details with ITEPs that are signatories to the PEA. ITEPs will contact the PEX Coordinator regarding placements, via email on the first instance.
- Two contact dates in a year – ITEPs will contact schools on the following dates:
- 1 November: For placements in Terms 1 and 2 of the following year.
- 1 April: For placements in Terms 3 and 4 of the same year.
- Data management: ITEPs must keep records of the schools they contact and the placements they arrange. This information must be available to the department upon request.
- Monitoring contacts: ITEPs should keep track of schools that decline to host placements and avoid contacting them repeatedly if they have no availability.
- Payments for supervising staff: Supervising teachers and PEX coordinators receive a set payment for their roles, which is paid directly by ITEPs. ITEPs are responsible for informing them about the payment process and providing necessary paperwork.