Differentiation Strategies for Australian Primary Schools

Differentiation Strategies for Australian Primary Schools

Every classroom has students working at different levels. Some are reading chapter books while others are still decoding CVC words. Some grasp multiplication instantly while others are still building confidence with addition. Differentiation is the practice of adjusting your teaching — the content, the process, or the product — so that every student can access the curriculum and make progress from where they are.

In Australia, differentiation is not optional. The Disability Standards for Education 2005 require education providers to make reasonable adjustments so that students with disability can participate in education on the same basis as their peers. The Australian Curriculum states that all students are entitled to "rigorous, relevant and engaging learning programs drawn from a challenging curriculum that addresses their individual learning needs." And the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Standard 1.5) require teachers to differentiate teaching across the full range of abilities.

This page covers practical differentiation strategies, the NCCD framework, and classroom-ready resources created by Australian teachers to support diverse learners from Foundation to Year 6.

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) is an annual collection of information about Australian school students with disability. It helps schools and governments understand the adjustments students need and how they are being supported.

The Four Levels of Adjustment

The NCCD uses four levels of adjustment to describe the support provided to students with disability. Each level reflects the frequency and intensity of the adjustments:

1. Quality Differentiated Teaching Practice (QDTP) — Support provided through the school's usual teaching practices without drawing on additional resources. This is what every teacher should be doing as part of meeting the proficient level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Adjustments are made infrequently or as low-level actions such as monitoring.

2. Supplementary — Adjustments provided when there is an assessed need, at specific times, to complement strategies already available within the school. These adjustments are provided on some days at some times. Examples include modified task sheets, additional small-group instruction, or assistive technology.

3. Substantial — More significant and ongoing adjustments provided on most days at most times. This might include an individualised learning plan, specialist support, or significant modification of curriculum content and assessment.

4. Extensive — The highest level of adjustment, provided on all days at all times. Students at this level typically require intensive, personalised support across all areas of learning.

Why the NCCD Matters for Classroom Teachers

Every teacher in every school is expected to provide QDTP as a minimum. This means differentiating your teaching to meet diverse needs is part of the baseline expectation — it's not an add-on for "special" students. When you differentiate your lesson by providing a graphic organiser for some students, adjusting the complexity of questions, or allowing students to demonstrate understanding in different ways, you are already operating at the QDTP level.

For students who need more support, the NCCD framework helps you identify and document the adjustments you're providing. This data is collected nationally and used to inform education policy and funding.

For more on supporting students with specific learning difficulties, see our learning difficulties classroom strategies page.

Differentiation doesn't mean creating a separate lesson plan for every student. It means making deliberate adjustments within your existing lessons so that all students can access the learning. There are four main areas where you can differentiate.

1. Differentiating Content

Content differentiation means adjusting what students learn or the complexity of the material they engage with. This doesn't mean teaching completely different topics — it means providing different entry points to the same learning goal.

Practical examples:

• Provide reading texts at different levels on the same topic. Tools like the Reading Levels Chart can help you match texts to students.
• Use tiered tasks — all students work on the same concept (e.g. addition) but with different number ranges (to 10, to 20, to 100).
• Offer vocabulary support for EAL/D students, such as visual glossaries or bilingual word lists. Building oral language skills supports EAL/D students across all curriculum areas.
• Pre-teach key concepts or vocabulary to students who need it before the whole-class lesson.

2. Differentiating Process

Process differentiation means adjusting how students learn and engage with content. Some students need more scaffolding; others need more challenge.

Practical examples:

• Use flexible grouping — group by readiness for some tasks, mixed ability for others. Groups should change regularly based on assessed need.
• Provide graphic organisers, sentence starters, or worked examples for students who need support.
• Offer extension tasks for students who demonstrate understanding quickly (see our fast finisher activities for ideas).
• Adjust the amount of teacher support — some groups work independently while you provide guided instruction to others.

3. Differentiating Product

Product differentiation means adjusting how students demonstrate their learning. Not every student needs to show what they know in the same way.

Practical examples:

• Offer a choice of output: written response, oral presentation, visual poster, digital creation, or physical model.
• Adjust the length or complexity of the expected response while maintaining the same learning goal.
• Use rubrics with clear criteria so students know what success looks like regardless of the format they choose.
• Allow students to use assistive technology (speech-to-text, word prediction) where needed.

4. Differentiating the Learning Environment

Environment differentiation means adjusting where and how students work. This includes physical space, social grouping, and classroom culture.

Practical examples:

• Provide quiet spaces for students who are easily distracted.
• Allow flexible seating — some students work better standing, sitting on the floor, or using a wobble cushion.
• Establish clear routines and visual schedules — these benefit all students but are essential for students with autism or ADHD. See our behaviour management strategies for more on classroom routines.
• Display anchor charts and word walls as reference tools.

Differentiation looks different in every subject area. Here are practical strategies for the core curriculum areas.

English

Literacy is where differentiation is most visible in primary classrooms. Key strategies include:

• Guided reading groups at instructional level — use reading levels to form groups and select texts
• Writing scaffolds at different levels — some students need sentence starters, others need paragraph frames, and some are ready for independent extended writing
• Spelling lists grouped by readiness — a single class might have three different spelling groups working on different patterns
• Comprehension questions at different levels — literal for some, inferential for others. See our reading comprehension activities for strategies

Mathematics

Maths differentiation often uses tiered tasks around the same concept:

• Number ranges — Foundation students working to 10, others to 20, others to 100
• Open-ended tasks — questions like "Make the number 24 using exactly three operations" have multiple entry points and allow students to work at their own level
• Concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) progression — some students use manipulatives, others draw representations, others work abstractly. See our place value activities and addition and subtraction activities for resources that support this progression
• Warm-up activities differentiated by complexity — see our maths warm-up activities for ideas

Other Curriculum Areas

In subjects like Science, HASS, and The Arts, differentiation often focuses on:

• Choice of output — allowing students to demonstrate understanding through writing, drawing, presenting, or creating
• Text complexity — providing information texts at different reading levels on the same topic
• Level of scaffolding — some students need a structured template, others can work from a brief
• Group roles — assigning roles within collaborative tasks that match student strengths

Differentiation for Gifted and Talented Students

The Australian Curriculum recognises three approaches for gifted and talented students:

• Enrichment — working with content in more depth or breadth
• Extension — providing opportunities to explore aspects of the general capabilities or cross-curriculum priorities
• Acceleration — drawing on content from later year levels

Gifted students still need differentiation — they just need it in the other direction. Providing open-ended challenges, leadership opportunities, and tasks that require higher-order thinking helps keep gifted students engaged and growing.

If differentiation feels overwhelming, start small. You don't need to transform every lesson overnight. Here is a practical starting sequence.

Step 1: Know Your Students

Effective differentiation starts with knowing where each student is. Use:

• Pre-assessments — a quick check before a unit to identify what students already know
• Running records and reading levels (see our reading levels chart)
• Observations and anecdotal notes during lessons
• Student self-assessment — even young students can indicate how confident they feel

Step 2: Plan Two or Three Levels

You don't need an individual plan for every student. Most primary teachers differentiate into two or three levels:

• Support level — students who need additional scaffolding, simplified language, or reduced quantity
• Core level — students working at the expected level for their year
• Extension level — students who are ready for additional challenge or complexity

Step 3: Use Flexible Grouping

Groups should change based on the subject, topic, and assessed need. A student who needs support in writing might be in the extension group for maths. Avoid fixed ability groups that never change — research consistently shows these can limit student growth over time.

Step 4: Build a Resource Bank

Having differentiated resources ready saves time in the moment. Build a collection of:

• Tiered task sheets at different levels
• Graphic organisers and scaffolds
• Extension task cards and open-ended challenges
• Visual supports and word banks