Childcare Centres with an Exceeding NQS Rating in Melbourne (2026)

Exceeding NQS is the highest rating a service can earn through ACECQA's standard assessment, awarded to services that demonstrate practice beyond what is required across one or more of the seven quality areas. One rating sits above it: Excellent, which ACECQA awards only to services that have first achieved Exceeding in all seven quality areas. Nationally, 16% of long day care services hold Exceeding (19% of all rated services), as at ACECQA's Q1 2026 NQF Snapshot.

All NQS ratings on this page are sourced from the Starting Blocks government database (startingblocks.gov.au), operated by ACECQA. You can verify any centre's current rating by searching for it directly on Starting Blocks.

NQS assessments are conducted periodically by the relevant state regulatory authority. There is no fixed schedule; a centre may be assessed every few years or more frequently if there are compliance concerns. We update ratings on this page when new assessments are published on Starting Blocks.

An Exceeding NQS rating is the strongest independent quality signal available for an early learning service in Australia. It reflects a rigorous, evidence-based assessment by qualified regulatory officers. However, we always recommend visiting a centre in person and reading recent parent reviews alongside any rating.