Early Career Training Programme

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 in the member of staff acting as the school's Induction Tutor, the school must update these details as soon as possible and before registering any Early Career Teachers (ECTs) or mentors for the Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP) via the Department for Education (DfE) portal.

The current Induction Tutor can assign the role to a new member of staff by logging into the DfE portal.  The newly appointed Induction Tutor will need to register for a DfE account before they can access the portal.  Once registration has been completed, a notification will be sent to the Headteacher, who will be required to approve the transfer of the Induction Tutor role.  This is done via this link: Register for early career teachers.

Maximising your funding for the ECF full Induction Programme and Mentor training funding for September 2025 onwards

Maximising your funding for the ECF full induction programme

Schools who are in the process of recruiting new ECTs for the academic year 2026/27 will be thinking about colleagues who are best placed to become ECT mentors for the period of statutory induction.

We do have a number of trained mentors now in place in schools across the region and schools may choose these teachers to become the mentor for new ECTs in their school.

Another option however, is to identify new mentors within your staff team that would appreciate the opportunity for professional development. Funding for the one-year course is still available to schools including if teachers have already completed ITT Mentor training with an ITT provider (excluding Teach First).

As a reminder, from September 2025, new ECF mentors will be trained over the course of one year not two years. 

Mentor training funding for September 2025 onwards

Grant funding for mentor training is available to schools and establishments that use DfE funded training providers to deliver training as part of the ECTE. 

Mentors will be given up to 20 hours to carry out mentor training for one year. Schools will be funded to support the mentor to undertake the training. 

This funding will be paid in arrears at the end of each academic year. Payments will be based on evidence that the mentor participated in the training, as confirmed by the lead provider. 

Mentors can only do this training once. They can continue their training even if their ECT transfers school or withdraws part way through their ECTE

For further details, please visit the DFE website using this link

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 will open to register your 2026 ECTs and Mentors from 15th June 2026.  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 2026/2027 tab.
• If your ECT is transferring from another school and started the programme in 2025/2026, please use this tab.
• If your ECT is transferring from another school and started the programme in 2024/2025 (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 as an Appropriate Body on the 'Register 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.

Those who have successfully completed our Initial Teacher Training mentor programme or Early Career Teacher Entitlement (ECTE) programme and/or hold a PGCE can apply to study this MA degree through the School of Education at the University of Hull.

MA applicants can submit a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) so that University can identify that your prior ITT mentor, ECTE learning and/or PGCE matches the outcomes on the MA programme. This may lead to the University granting academic credits and pro-rata fees.

The RPL form can be accessed at the bottom of this webpage.

Applications can be submitted through the course page found here. Applicants need to send the RPL form to the admissions tutor, Trish Curran using P.A.Curran@hull.ac.uk.

The University of Hull also offers the following MA programmes through the School of Education:

-MA in Education

-MA in Special Educational Needs, Disabilities and Inclusion

-MA in Leadership and Management in Education

-MA in Coaching and Mentoring in Education

-MA in Early Childhood Education

-MA (Research) Education

-MA in TESOL