Decide which option you are going to take for delivering the ECF (see the 3 available options on our 🔗ECF home page or 🔗click here for more detailed information from the DfE).

Nominate your induction tutor and mentor for the ECT – think about the people in your school who are to take on these roles.

Register on the 🔗DFE’s online portal system (FIP and CIP routes only).

Prepare in school – ensure your ECT has a timetable reduction and that your induction tutor and mentor have the ability and time to carry out their roles.

Yes, all Early Career Teachers (ECTs) must be registered with an Appropriate Body (AB) before they can begin induction. Exchange Teaching Hub will be offering this service. Part of the role of the AB will be to assess the ECT’s induction and check that they have received their ECF entitlement.

If you would like more information about our appropriate services please visit this link:
🔗Appropriate Body – Exchange Teaching Hub 

You may also find the DfE’s guidance on Statutory induction and the role of the appropriate body useful by visiting their site:
🔗Appropriate bodies guidance: induction and the early career framework – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Schools have to register their ECF intentions on the 🔗DfE online service. The DfE are collecting data online about how schools will be supporting their ECTs.

The DfE need to know:
Which ECF route you are using – the full induction programme (FIP), the core induction materials (CIP) or whether you are creating your own programme.

Who your induction tutor is in school (this is whoever will be overseeing the ECT’s induction and completing the paperwork. All emails to the school about the ECF from the DfE will come to the address you provide here).

You will also need to enter the details of your ECTs and mentors.

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, £2,100 is paid to schools to fund 5% off timetable for each ECT and 20 hours mentor support time.

Additionally, schools signed up to a full induction programme will receive additional funding for mentor training of £1576.10 (equivalent to 36 hours of backfill time over two years per mentor).

For further information please visit the 🔗DfE website.

Once they have decided on the full induction programme schools need to:

▶️Register their details on the 🔗DfE online system. 

▶️Complete the 🔗expression of interest form to register for the 🔗UCL programme through Exchange Teaching Hub.

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 invest more time in checking your provision meets the requirements of the ECF.

Schools can only have one Induction Tutor named and registered on the DfE online system.

If you sign up with us for the UCL full induction programme this person will be our main contact and will receive our emails. You are of course free to use other people in school to assist as you see fit, but the named induction tutor will be responsible for fulfilling the statutory obligations of the role.

The induction tutor guides the ECT’s professional development and completes the statutory requirements of the role. They carry out regular progress reviews and two formal assessments, the results of which are shared with the ECT, Headteacher and Appropriate Body. It is the Induction Tutor who leads the ECT and mentor in ECF provision, working in collaboration with the Delivery Partner.

Mentors meet regularly with the ECT for structured mentor sessions to provide effective targeted feedback and work collaboratively with the ECT and other colleagues involved in the ECT’s induction. They provide or broker effective support, mentoring and coaching and take prompt action if an ECT appears to be having difficulties.

Ideally, the induction tutor and mentor roles should be carried out by two separate people, but in a small school this may not be possible and both roles can be carried out by the same person.

The standard length of ECT induction training is typically two years. However, if an ECT spends less or more than two years in training, a Non-Standard induction policy must be followed. Based on the statutory guidance, Exchange Teaching Hub will support part-time ECTs to serve the full-time equivalent of two full school years. This is to provide sufficient teaching practice time to apply training and demonstrate the standards. The part-time routes offered will give the opportunity to engage with the programme at an appropriate and proportionate rate, particularly for those on 0.6 FTE or less. While some ECTs in a part-time position may want to cover the programme at a faster rate to ‘keep up’ with their full- time peers, this will not be appropriate in most cases and would likely have a negative impact on workload. 

The aim of the policy is to set out some principles to clarify our approach to non-standard ECTs and it outlines our intention to deliver ECT training that is fair, accessible and does not include any unnecessary barriers. 

The Non-Standard induction policy applies to: 
•   ECTs undergoing an extended or reduced term of induction 
•   Part-time ECTs 
•   ECTs transferring schools during their ECF training 
•   ECTs starting at different points throughout the academic year. 
 
Any non-standard induction, whether reduced or extended, must be approved by both the school and the Appropriate Body.  

For further information please read our 🔗Non-Standard Policy.

ECTs and mentors following the UCL full induction programme are able to access all the materials they will need on their UCL Extend platform. They will be notified of any training they need to attend by email from the ECF Team at Exchange Teaching Hub.

For this reason it important that we have your correct contact information.  

If you are changing schools or training provider, this will need to be recorded on the 🔗Manage training for early career teachers service. The ECF programme is funded by the Department for Education, and Exchange Teaching Hub makes periodic declarations for this. Completion of the programme will be recorded on the DfE, so you will not lose any of your progress by transferring schools. You should not have to re submit any work and should be able to continue with the programme where you last engaged. 

Exchange Teaching Hub offers a blended learning approach, with self-study, online and face-to-face training all forming part of the programme.  

We believe there are many benefits to attending in-person events, physical involvement and interaction are still proven to be the most effective ways to learn. There is something to be said for learning in person, and it results in a high level of concentration. The ability to ask questions or clarify information on the spot also keeps participants engaged in the training and can avoid confusion and misunderstandings. Facilitators are also there to contextualise the learning.  

Supply teachers can enrol onto the ECF Programme if they are working for a school for a minimum of 3 months (or 1 long academic term). ECTs or Mentors can transfer training providers, and they will not need to repeat any modules. 

Eligible Schools and Establishments
Schools and establishments eligible for DfE funding include: 
•   State-funded schools, colleges and sixth forms.
•   Maintained and non-maintained special schools.
•   Independent schools that receive Section 41 funding.

Independent Schools
We do offer places for the ECF programme at a fee. Standard fees include attendance at the live online events, workshops, online modules and learning recourses. You will also need to register with an appropriate body to sign the induction of the ECT off, and they may raise a separate cost. 

Please contact us to find out further information on costing.  

Who is eligible to be an ECT?
ECTs should be eligible for DfE funding if they both: 
•   Hold qualified teacher status (QTS).
•   Start their induction on or after 1st September 2021.

ECTs with qualified teacher learning and skills status (QTLS) are not eligible for DfE funding, because they are exempt from statutory induction. 

How the DfE checks the eligibility for ECTs and Mentors 
When school induction tutors 🔗register ECTs and mentors with DfE, we check the teacher’s details in the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) records. 

We check that the ECT: 
•   Holds qualified teacher status (QTS).
•   Has not completed statutory induction before.
•   Has not started induction before 1st September 2021.

We check that the mentor: 
•   Does not have any prohibitions, sanctions or restrictions on their record.
•   Has not received funded training for ECF-based mentoring before.

An overview of the ECF reforms can be found 🔗here on GOV.UK