Early Career Framework FAQs

ECT - Early Career Teacher

A teacher in their first two years of teaching.

ECF – Early Career Framework

A framework of standards for early career teachers which underpins the statutory entitlement to early career professional development.

Full induction programme

A complete, funded programme for ECTs, based on the ECF, created by a lead provider and delivered by a delivery partner.

Lead provider

One of seven national providers accredited by the DfE to provide funded ECF training. These are University College London, Teach First, Education Development Trust, Ambition Institute, Best Practice Network, Capita and National Institute of Teaching.

Delivery partner

An organisation working with a Lead Provider to deliver their full induction programme to schools. The Lead provider will create the resources and programme, but the Delivery Partner will recruit schools, support them and deliver all the conferences and seminars to their teachers. Teaching School Hubs are the principal Delivery Partners nationally, and Red Kite is the Delivery Partner for UCL in our region.

Appropriate Body

The accredited body that oversees the statutory induction of Early Career Teachers and assesses whether they have met the Teachers’ Standards. 

ECTManager

This is an online management system used by many Appropriate Bodies, including Red Kite. It is an efficient, paperless way to register ECTs for induction and submit assessments.

ECF Lead

The person who oversees the ECF programme in school and ensures the ECT and mentor are fulfilling the expectations. This is usually the same person as the Induction Tutor.

Induction Tutor

The person who oversees the ECT’s statutory induction and liaises with the Appropriate Body.

Mentor

The mentor plays a significant role in supporting the ECT’s development. DfE funding is designed to provide capacity for the mentor to spend time every week with the ECT and attend training.

Yes, all Early Career Teachers (ECTs) must be registered with an Appropriate Body (AB) before they can begin induction. The AB will assess the ECT’s induction and check that they have received their ECF entitlement.

In year 1, there is no new funding (10% off timetable for ECT and mentor support time is already paid to schools, as calculated through the National Funding Formula). In year 2, £1,200 is paid to schools to fund 5% off timetable for ECT and 20 hours mentor support time.
Additionally for schools signed up to a full induction programme, all the training and support for ECTs and ECMs on the full induction programme is fully funded and there is NO DIRECT COST to schools. Schools will receive additional funding for mentor training (equivalent to 36 hours of backfill time over two years per mentor).

Schools can register details of their Early Career needs on a new DfE portal. Delivery Partners will work with schools in their region to find out which schools wish to register with their full induction programme.

Click here to register with Red Kite’s full induction programme.

Our experience from running the one-year ECF pilot revealed that being prepared is key to the success of the programme. Identify your mentor(s), think about how you will accommodate the mentor weekly meetings with the ECT, consider how to extend the benefits of the ECF into the wider staff and ensure all staff understand the expectations.

The ECF programme will be delivered in a staggered way to ensure ECTs that join later in the year get the full benefit. We are delivering the programme through established local partnerships and alliances that know schools and can adapt to fit their context.

No. Your ECT has an entitlement to two years of support and development based on the Early Career Framework, but you could opt to support them with your own training using the core induction materials, or even create your own programme based on the ECF. If you do not opt for the full induction programme you will still receive DfE funding towards off-timetable time for the ECT and mentor, but you will not get the extra funding for mentor training time and you will have to fund the development and facilitation of training sessions yourself. The fee you pay the Appropriate Body is likely to be higher, too, because the AB will have to establish the fidelity of your provision to the ECF.