Early Career Framework

Schools are required to provide up-to-date details of the senior member of staff responsible for statutory induction of Early Career Teachers.

The Headteacher has overall responsibility for statutory induction but can delegate the role to a member of staff with necessary skills and knowledge. 

Appropriate Bodies Guidance: Induction and the Early Career Framework Revised April 2023 states:

The headteacher should identify a person, or persons, who act as induction tutor for the ECTs serving induction. An induction tutor is expected to hold QTS and have the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to assess the ECT’s progress against the Teachers’ Standards.

If there has been a change to the person who is the schools Induction Tutor, schools must update details as soon as possible and before they register ECTs and mentors for the Early Career Framework programme using the following link: Manage training for early career teachers.

The DfE will use the contact email address from Get Information About Schools (GIAS) to remind you of the need to update your details annually and access the manage training for early career teachers site. This is usually the Headteacher's email address but can sometimes be the school admin account.

Schools will receive £1713.86 for every new mentor that they register on the DfE portal that completes the ECF mentor training.

Ofsted's Independent review of teachers’ professional development in schools: phase 1 findings (May 10th 2023) highlights that teachers and leaders see improving teachers’ practice as a priority, yet teacher development was not always clearly prioritised, especially for more experienced teachers.

Now that schools' curriculum development, in response to the current Ofsted Inspection Framework is well advanced. Leaders should focus their attention on how well the curriculum is implemented by prioritising teacher development. Capacity for high quality mentoring is essential to this in order to provide (instructional) coaching and support for all teachers, particularly Early Career Teachers (ECTs). Schools can do this at little or no cost by building mentoring capacity through ECF mentor training which can be applied to the development of all teachers.

Registering a new ECF mentor benefits the school in the following ways:

• Receive £1713.86 for each new mentor
• Access free training underpinned by the best available evidence on teacher development
• Developing a cadre of teachers who are skilled in ‘instructional coaching’
• Build capacity to support teacher development across your school
• Provide a succession plan if an existing mentor leaves or takes on a new role
• Build common language and practice for teacher development across your school
• Reduce the demands of the quality requirements for ITT mentors to complete 20 hours of mentor training from 2024 by front loading DfE approved mentor training.

Schools may be worried about having sufficient capacity to allocate new mentors for ECF training but should be reassured that the Vantage approach is flexible and only requires mentors to attend an induction event followed by three sessions per year. Options of face-to-face or online training are available as schools have told us they need this type of flexibility.

From September 2023 there will be a reduction in the content of mandatory ECF mentor training which should reassure schools and support them in allocating new teachers to train as mentors and build additional capacity for the development of all teachers, particularly ECTs.

Below are two worked examples of how a school might build capacity, maximise funding and manage staffing resources.

Example 1: Registering a new mentor for training whilst using existing mentors for ECT support

If you have existing ECF trained mentors in your school that you wish to deploy to deliver the mentor meetings to your ECTs, below is an example of how you would manage this but still access ECF training and funding for a new mentor:

• You appoint new Y1 or Y2 ECTs
• Your register each new ECT and the new mentor on the DfE manage training for early career teachers portal
• Your new mentor(s) engage in the mentor training (induction plus 1 session per term)
• Existing mentor(s) who have already engaged/completed the training carry out the weekly (in Y1) and fortnightly (in Y2) mentoring duties with the ECT(s).

This approach ensures you build mentor capacity and also access additional £1713.86p funding.

Example 2: Allocating a post ECF teacher to undertake mentor training

From 2021, it was often more experienced teachers with existing leadership duties that schools nominated for mentoring duties. Recent ECTs who have completed the ECF programme may be well-placed to provide mentoring to ECTs. They have a detailed understanding of the programme structure, underpinning evidence and how it looks in practice. They have also benefited from receiving mentor training and tell us that the support of the mentor using instructional coaching, is highly valued and are likely to be highly motivated to engage with this responsibility, further developing their own professional practice.

Deploying a post ECF teacher to benefit from ECF mentor training will grow capacity for high quality mentoring from those who have experienced the benefits themselves.

• You appoint new Y1 or Y2 ECTs
• You register the new ECTs and the post ECF teacher as the mentor on the DfE manage training for early career teachers portal
• Your new mentor engages in the mentor training (induction plus 1 session per term)
• You can choose if your post ECF mentor or an existing mentor carries out the weekly/fortnightly mentoring duties.

This approach ensures you build mentor capacity and also access additional £1713.86 funding per mentor.

Prior to registering your ECTs with the DfE using Manage training for early career teachers, we need you to let us know:

-the name and email address of your ECTs

-the name and email address of each mentor that is linked to an ECT.

This is essential so that we can:

• check the details and identify any issues or errors 
• provide you with support in registering ECTs/mentors with the DfE
• swiftly onboard you on to the Early Career Framework programme
• provide you with Appropriate Body Services which is a statutory duty for schools appointing an ECT.

Please complete this form to notify us that you have appointed an ECT.

The DfE portal is now open to register your 2023 ECTs and Mentors.  The link below provides step-by-step instructions on how to register ECTs and Mentors, with the permission of Molescroft Primary School.

Step-by-step guide to registering ECTs with the DfE

Please note that it is important that you register your ECT in the correct year as this can cause difficulties further down the line in the onboarding process/Brightspace Access:

• If your ECT is a new ECT, then please onboard to 2025/2026 tab.
• If your ECT is transferring from another school and started the programme in 2024/2025, please use this tab.
• If your ECT is transferring from another school and started the programme in 2023/2024 (possibly a break in teaching), then please use this tab.

Register ECTs with the DfE using this link: Manage training for early career teachers.

To register with us for Appropriate Body Services you will need to complete step 3 - Inform us you have appointed an ECT.

We are listed an Appropriate Body on the 'Manage training for early career teachers' service as The Vantage Teaching School Hub, North Humber.

All schools who appoint an ECT must also appoint an Appropriate Body who will provide you with:

• support for statutory induction 
• monitor the effectiveness of the support you provide to ECTs and mentors
• make the final decision on whether an ECT has satisfactorily met the Teachers' Standards based on the headteachers recommendation.

The DfE encourages schools to use their regional Teaching School Hub for Appropriate Body Services.

You can find out more about the Appropriate Body Service that we provide here.

By completing the form in step 3, you will have informed us if you wish for us to provide you with Appropriate Body Services.

We will then send you a link to the ECT Manager software that will enable provide us with the information we need to register you with the Teacher Regulatory Agency (TRA) and submit progress reviews and assessments during the course of the induction period.