The New South Wales (Australia) Government is committed to an education system that prepares learners for rewarding lives and lifelong learning. To realise this, the NSW Department of Education (DoE) has initiated several reforms in recent years, including the Local Schools Local Decisions (LSLD) reform (2011) that was replaced by the School Success Model (SSM) reform in 2020.

The SSM is a school improvement reform that aimed to deliver high quality, tiered support to all NSW public schools. The SSM also strives for a balance of autonomy and accountability for student improvement across schools by formalising system targets and priorities, among others, through a tailored school support framework. 

Realising successful educational change however is complex. The DoE invited the OECD Implementing Education Policies project team to build on lessons from past reforms and receive feedback from the education profession and other stakeholders. Drawing from OECD’s international knowledge base and expertise, this report presents an in-depth assessment and offers concrete recommendations for enhancing the design and implementation of the DoE school improvement and broader education reform agenda.