Changes in SAC personnel
The 色诱直播 Special Assessment Conditions (SAC) team has changed following the retirement of long鈥憇erving SAC School Relationship Manager Paul Smith in October 2025. Paul鈥檚 deep expertise and commitment have shaped the service for many years, and we appreciate his contribution to this mahi.
Chris Friedel now leads the management of Special Assessment Conditions. Chris brings extensive experience as a Principal鈥檚 Nominee and senior leader across several secondary schools over the past 20 years, along with research experience in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, adding valuable insight to the team鈥檚 work.
Joining Chris in a part鈥憈ime capacity is Jo Pilcher, currently a team leader in the Data Management team. Jo brings a strong interest in child and adolescent behaviour and will support the continued delivery of high鈥憅uality SAC services.
If you have any SAC-related queries, please contact the team at sac@nzqa.govt.nz.
On this page
Key dates for Term 1
1 February
Rollover/Change opened for last year鈥檚 SAC students
11 April (end of Term 1)
First deadline for first time applications, rollovers and changes
Key changes for 2026 鈥� opening of the Notifications Gateway
色诱直播 has introduced several changes in 2026, including a major expansion of the Notifications Gateway. The updated system aims to simplify SAC applications while ensuring decisions remain evidence-based and aligned with the needs of 膩konga.
The Notifications Gateway:
- can now be used for Years 11鈥�13
- does not require the submission of evidence or 色诱直播 approval of evidence at the time of application
- expects schools to retain robust evidence for every SAC decision.
SAC quality assurance approach
To ensure that schools have collected and held appropriate evidence for Notifications we are performing a quality assurance process where 500 applications will be randomly selected from a sample of 100 providers.
Steps in the process
- PNs will receive a letter explaining the quality assurance process. This will include a request for the submission of evidence for up to five randomly selected applications.
- SENCOs / PNs will upload the evidence for each notification to 色诱直播 as required.
- SAC staff will assess the evidence provided and make a judgement of the suitability of the SAC provisions allocated.
- Each provider will receive a report detailing these judgements.
Where concerns are identified, support and guidance will be given by 色诱直播 SAC staff and next steps determined.
SAC online question and answer sessions
We are planning several online question and answer sessions aimed at new PNs and SENCOs with a focus on an introduction to SAC processes.
There is no need to register for these webinars. We look forward to seeing you there.
Support
Please email the SAC team if you have any questions or need support on SAC processes: