Intellectual Disability School Support in the ACT: Mainstream, DEP, and Specialist Schools Explained

When a child receives a diagnosis of intellectual disability (ID), one of the first questions ACT parents ask is: what school environment is right for them, and what support should I be pushing for?

The answer is not one-size-fits-all. The ACT operates a tiered system — mainstream schools with inclusion support, Disability Education Programs within mainstream schools, and four dedicated specialist schools. Which setting is appropriate depends on the severity of the diagnosis, the family's preferences, and what support the child needs to access education meaningfully.

This post explains how each tier works, what parents need to know about the eligibility criteria, and how to ensure the right support is in place regardless of setting.

The NCCD and Intellectual Disability

Under the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD), intellectual disability falls under the Cognitive category — which covers 53.9% of all students nationally receiving educational adjustments. Cognitive adjustments are the most common by a significant margin, encompassing students with specific learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and autistic students whose primary barriers are cognitive processing-related.

Students with intellectual disability are most likely to require Substantial or Extensive adjustments under the NCCD framework. The Extensive category — constant, intensive, and highly individualized support — applies to only 2.5% of students nationally, and students with moderate-to-severe ID are among the most common recipients of this level.

The Three Tiers of Support in ACT Public Schools

1. Mainstream Inclusion with the Inclusion Support Program (ISP)

All ACT public schools operate the Inclusion Support Program, which provides for individualized adjustments within general, neurotypical classrooms. Every student who requires disability adjustments — regardless of diagnosis — is entitled to an ILP, and the ISP framework is what governs support in a mainstream setting.

For students with intellectual disability, mainstream inclusion with ISP means:

• An ILP with modified curriculum expectations aligned to the student's functional level
• Learning Support Assistant (LSA) hours appropriate to the level of independence the student has
• Adjustments to assessment formats, pace of instruction, and task complexity
• Access to allied health supports, potentially including NDIS-funded therapists on school premises with Principal approval

Whether mainstream inclusion is appropriate for a student with ID depends on the specific severity and functional impact of the diagnosis. A student with mild ID may thrive in a mainstream setting with adequate support. A student with moderate, severe, or profound ID may find that mainstream inclusion, without the specialized instructional approach of a specialist setting, is an inadequate educational experience.

2. Disability Education Programs (DEPs)

For students who need a more intensive but still integrated experience, the ACT operates Disability Education Programs across primary, high school, and college settings. DEPs feature:

• Significantly smaller class size ratios
• Teachers with specialist disability education training
• A flexible structure allowing students to transition between focused small-group instruction and mainstream classes throughout the day

DEPs are not the same as specialist schools. Students in DEPs are enrolled in a mainstream school but access their primary instruction through the smaller, specialist class. Social inclusion with the broader school community is maintained.

Eligibility for a DEP is determined through the ACT Student Disability Criteria (ACT SDC) and typically involves assessment, documentation of functional impact, and a referral process through the ACT Education Directorate's central Disability Education team. Parents who believe their child would benefit from a DEP placement should raise this explicitly in the ILP process and request a referral if appropriate.

3. Specialist Schools

The ACT operates four specialist schools for students with the most significant needs, geographically organized by region and age cohort:

Primary (Preschool to Year 6):

• Malkara School — Southside
• Cranleigh School — Northside

Secondary (Years 7 to 12):

• The Woden School — Southside
• Black Mountain School — Northside

Eligibility for ACT specialist school enrolment is strictly regulated. The criteria are:

• The student must reside in the ACT
• The student must have a formal diagnosis of Intellectual Disability at a severity level of moderate, severe, or profound consistent with DSM-5 or ICD-11 criteria
• Dual diagnoses (e.g., ASD + ID) are accepted, but the student must independently meet the ID severity requirement
• For early intervention preschool entry at Cranleigh or Malkara, children with Global Developmental Delay may be admitted if adaptive functioning scores are at least three standard deviations below the mean across all skill domains

Specialist schools are not appropriate for all students with ID — specifically, students with mild intellectual disability do not meet the eligibility threshold. This is intentional: mild ID is expected to be supported within mainstream and DEP settings. Specialist schools are resourced for the most complex, intensive needs.

What the ILP Should Contain for a Student With ID

Regardless of educational setting, the ILP for a student with intellectual disability must include:

Modified curriculum expectations. The ILP should specify the level at which curriculum content will be delivered. For students with moderate ID, this is likely to be multiple year-levels below chronological age. The plan should be explicit about this — vague references to "modified" or "differentiated" content without specifying the target level are not useful.

Functional life skills goals. For students with significant ID, ILP goals should include not only academic skills but functional daily living skills relevant to the student's age and long-term transition needs — communication, self-care, community participation, social interaction.

Communication supports. Many students with ID have co-occurring communication needs. The ILP should specify whether Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, visual supports, or communication boards are in use, and who is responsible for maintaining and facilitating these.

Transition planning. From around Year 7, the ILP should include transition goals that look toward post-school outcomes — whether that is employment, vocational training, supported living, or community participation. The ACT's 2024–2034 Inclusive Education Strategy specifically commits to deploying Inclusion Transition and Career Coaches (ITACCs) to support this.

SCAN assessment outcomes. For students with moderate-to-severe ID, the Student Centred Appraisal of Need (SCAN) process is particularly important. SCAN determines centralized resourcing allocations including LSA hours. A well-prepared SCAN submission — grounded in current allied health assessments and documented daily functional impacts — directly influences the resourcing your child receives.

Advocacy Considerations for ID Families

If your child doesn't meet specialist school eligibility but struggles in mainstream. DEP placement is the gap-filling option here. Request a formal assessment for DEP consideration through the Directorate if mainstream inclusion is not producing adequate educational outcomes.

If you believe the SCAN assessment understated your child's needs. You have the right to formally appeal a SCAN outcome, particularly if the resulting resourcing band is insufficient to meet the ILP goals. Gather updated allied health assessments and document specific instances where inadequate support has led to curriculum exclusion or failure to achieve ILP goals.

If the school is resistant to modified curriculum. Some schools resist formally documenting modified curriculum in the ILP, preferring to describe it as "differentiated instruction" — which can obscure the actual gap between what the student is being taught and what peers receive. Insist on specificity in the ILP about the level of curriculum modification.

The Australian Capital Territory Disability Support Blueprint includes ACT-specific guidance on DEP referrals, specialist school eligibility, SCAN process preparation, and ILP requirements for students across the full range of disability profiles.

The Legal Framework That Applies Across All Settings

Regardless of setting — mainstream, DEP, or specialist school — the legal obligations of the Disability Standards for Education 2005 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 apply. Schools must consult parents in planning, provide reasonable adjustments, and cannot remove supports without adequate process.

For students in specialist schools, these obligations continue: an ILP is still required, goals must still be SMART, and parents retain the right to request reviews and formally dispute decisions they disagree with.

The setting changes. The rights don't.

See more Australia guides →