Gifted pupils in Tasmania have access to limited in-school and online programs, as well as competitions to showcase their ability, however, there is no separate class or school to support the needs of this cohort.

Tasmania Association for the Gifted member Allison Cornish said often the in-school programs are once-a-week pull-out programs that do not count towards reports and coursework, which defeats their purpose.

Launceston TAG member Mrs Cornish, who is also a mother of a gifted child and teacher of gifted children in Tasmania and New South Wales, said the support for gifted children has not changed in several years.

Gifted Awareness Week runs from March 17-23 and TAG is hoping to raise more awareness of the issues that face gifted and talented students in Tasmania.

Mrs Cornish said while there was room in the Australian Curriculum to "vary the pace and extend the level" of challenge for gifted pupils, not all teachers had the resources or training to do so.

"We don't blame teachers at all, but there seems to be a lack of support available overall on giftedness," Mrs Cornish said.

Mrs Cornish said there was a lack of trained teachers in Tasmania who were trained in giftedness, which meant it was hard for teachers to identify and manage those pupils.

"Teachers can sometimes think 'in the box' of their grade level when they're teaching and sometimes aren't aware that they're able to vary the pace for gifted pupils."

She said it was important that the Education Department took a more active role in ensuring giftedness was able to be managed and children got the support they needed.

The Education Department was contacted for comment however did not respond before deadline.

On the department's website, it says parents have two options to support the learning for their gifted child - the Gifted Online program and early entry to school.

Gifted Online programs are facilitated by teachers who are very experienced in extending and enriching learning for gifted and talented pupils.

Pupils are able to connect and work with other gifted and talented students from around Tasmania.

Early entry into kindergarten is a process parents should take in consultation with their school and is assessed independently.

Mrs Cornish said there were also widely held misconceptions among the school community and parents that gifted children didn't need extra support because they were academically bright.

However, it was common to find a gifted child who is gifted only in one area, or one that has a learning difficulty, or one that is academically bright but has the emotional intelligence that fits their age.

"People think that gifted children 'will be alright' on their own, but often they need just as much help as the kids with learning difficulties, but they need just as much help" Mrs Cornish said.

She said if teachers weren't given enough resources the outcome would be a cohort of disengaged students, with research to suggest that disengagement could lead to students dropping out of school.

A longitudinal study conducted by Miraca Gross followed gifted pupils throughout their schooling in Australia for 20 years. Some of the gifted pupils were accelerated and some were not. 

The 33 young people who were "retained for the duration of their schooling in a lockstep curriculum with age peers" developed jaded views of education, imposter syndrome and ongoing difficulties.

The report said two of the "nonaccelerands" pupils involved in the study dropped out of high school and "a number" dropped out of university.

"Several more have had ongoing difficulties at university, not because of lack of ability but because they have found it difficult to commit to undergraduate study that is less than stimulating," the report read.

In addition, several of the 'nonaccelerands' have "serious and ongoing problems with social relationships."

"These young people find it very difficult to sustain friendships because having been, to a large extent, socially isolated at school, they have had much less practice in their formative years in developing and maintaining social relationships."

Six of them received counselling during the study and two were treated for severe depression.

Mrs Cornish said the longitudinal study was published in 2006 but it was the only example of a long-reaching study that followed the effects of acceleration programs and school responsiveness to gifted pupils.

"You only get one chance with kids in their schooling, and if you disengage them early, you will never get them back," she said.

"Every child deserves an education, whatever end of the learning spectrum they fall on."