Newstead College has been the college of choice for a large proportion of the North's students who live with a disability, because of its specialised disability support programs.

Tasmanian Disability Education Reform Lobby founder Kristen Desmond said recent reports of ongoing viability concerns for Newstead College would be a blow for many of those students.

"We definitely don't want any concern or doubt to be in the minds of parents whose children are looking at colleges next year or in the near future," she said.

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Windermere Independent MLC Ivan Dean raised concerns over the viability of Newstead College during Parliament on March 20, citing dwindling enrolment numbers.

Ms Desmond said TDERL would be calling on the government to "keep its promise" about ensuring colleges would still remain viable under its extension school policy.

"If you have a college that works well, and is working for those students with a disability it should remain viable," she said.

"For some students, Newstead College offers a great alternative to staying at their high school, because it offers a clean break and a new start in a place they are treated like adults."

Newstead College offers an attractive option for students who are living with a disability because it has an on-site disability support program, which can be accessed dependent on need.

Ms Desmond said the program had some students who accessed it full time, while others only used it for the times they needed it or for some course units.

She said Launceston College didn't have such a resource and some parents had expressed concern about safety for their children, because it was so close to Launceston's city centre.

Data from the Education Department showed Newstead College had 704 students in 2017 and recorded 639 students in 2018. However, Mr Dean argued in Parliament that the college had the capacity for 800 students.

Enrolments at Newstead College are a mixture of full-time and part-time students, with part-time students attending the college for particular subjects.

Its main feeder schools, Queechy and Brooks high schools will extend to years 11 and 12 by 2022; another school close by, Kings Meadows High School, has already completed extension.

Ms Desmond said TDERL was concerned about any viability issues for education institutions such as Newstead College, which offered an alternative for students living with a disability.

"What we really need is choice, and if that [Newstead College] is taken away in any capacity it reduces choice," she said.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff has maintained that no college would be adversely impacted by its extension school program and maintains that despite the questions over Newstead College.

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