Core induction programme

The first few years of teaching can be tough.

This year has been uniquely challenging, with virtually all early career teachers starting this autumn having had a disrupted initial teacher training (ITT) experience, making it more important than ever that those starting their careers receive quality support.

That’s why the Department has published the Early Career Framework (ECF) core induction programmes early, for those who are not able to take part in a provider-led programme.

What is the early career framework?

The early career framework (ECF) was designed to make sure early career teachers focus on learning the things that make the most difference in the classroom and their professional practice.

The core induction programmes include high-quality development materials, underpinned by the ECF, which will support early career teachers to develop the essential knowledge and skills to set them up for a successful and fulfilling career in teaching.

Schools have an opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of the ECF early by using the core induction programmes published here, in whichever way that best suits them and their early career teachers.

ECF core induction programme suppliers

The Department for Education has selected four expert teacher training providers who have each developed their own core induction programme based on the ECF:

Ambition Institute
Education Development Trust
Teach First
UCL Early Career Teacher Consortium

Each set of materials cover the five core areas of the ECF:

behaviour management
pedagogy
curriculum
assessment
professional behaviours

Although structured differently, each programme contains approximately the same amount of self-study material in terms of hours covered.

Schools can use or draw upon any of four core induction programmes published here in whichever way is most beneficial to them and their early career teachers.

You can read more about these suppliers on their own websites or in the course descriptions below.

Suppliers

Ambition Institute

This programme takes a recurring weekly approach to study, so teachers and the mentors supporting them can get into powerful routines for improvement. The programme is composed of three strands, each of which has a core focus: mainly Behaviour, Instruction, or Subject. Each week includes concise, accessible summaries of the evidence, with optional further reading, so teachers can gain understanding quickly. The materials also include helpful examples of good classroom practice.

View Ambition Institute programme

Education Development Trust

Created with schools, for schools, this programme is based on a deep understanding of the needs of ECTs and the busy colleagues who guide them. The focus throughout is on developing the ECT–Mentor relationship, and providing a powerful professional development opportunity for both parties. The 12 ‘blocks’ of learning take ECTs from foundational knowledge through to mastery, increasing in challenge and depth as the ECTs grow in experience, confidence and understanding. Building on the principles of instructional coaching, these materials are accessible, engaging and practical.

View Education Development Trust programme

Teach First

Each module in this programme has been broken down into weekly sessions to provide you with informed and bitesize information on best practice. Throughout the online study materials, you will be prompted to complete activities and reflect on your practice, considering what you are doing well and how you could improve.

View Teach First programme

UCL Early Career Teacher Consortium

This programme draws upon the theory and practice in the ECF to combine practical activity and inquiry. The programme targets both ‘practical fluency’ – the capacity to deploy a range of teacher practices confidently and skilfully – and the wider knowledge, experience and beliefs required to make use of these practices in real schools, with real pupils and with their outcomes in mind.

View UCL Early Career Teacher Consortium programme

How to use these materials

The core induction programmes published here have been made available a year ahead of schedule so that the maximum number of newly qualified teachers can benefit from the support the ECF provides.

In order to make them available for early use, we have released these materials in a slightly different format, and you should use them in the way that benefits you the most.

Early career teachers may not yet be able to take part in face-to-face training or have a dedicated mentor, which will be part of the structured programme offered from September 2021. Using the materials as a tool for self-study may therefore be most beneficial.

Other schools may choose to use the resources as a base to introduce their own programme of support and development for their early career teachers.

Some of the videos and audio files referenced in the courses are being finalised and will be included in further versions of the documents as part as full roll out of the scheme in 2021. Where it has not been possible to include them, suppliers have provided scripts or filming briefs.

What happens next: looking ahead to national roll-out

From September 2021, it will become a statutory requirement for all schools to offer, and all early career teachers to undertake, a 2-year induction based on the ECF. Next year schools will be able to choose from three approaches to deliver an ECF-based induction to their early career teachers:

Full induction programme

A funded provider-led programme offering high-quality training for early career teachers and their mentors alongside the professional development materials.