The Early Career Framework (ECF): A Guide for New Teachers
Learn about the Early Career Framework for new teachers: two-year induction programme, mentoring support, and professional development requirements.
What is the early career framework?
The Early Career Framework (ECF) is more than just a training programme; it's a transformative process that shapes the future of the teaching profession. Spanning over a 2-year period, the ECF is a meticulously designed early roll-out programme that offers fully funded, high-quality training and support, all anchored in advanced research evidence.
Key Takeaways
- The 2-Year Teaching Revolution: Discover how the ECF transforms induction from sink-or-swim survival to structured mastery with dedicated weekly training time
- Beyond Basic Mentoring: Enable the framework's evidence-based strategies for scaffolding, metacognition, and formative assessment that participants credit for teaching breakthroughs
- Navigate the September 2021 Changes: Master the revised statutory requirements and learn how to access fully-funded support that replaces outdated one-year induction programmes
- The Hidden Career Accelerator: Why schools embracing ECF report stronger retention rates and how structured progression pathways prevent the early-career exodus
This initiative ensures that new educators are not only prepared for the realities of working in a school setting but are also given dedicated time to immerse themselves in professional development.
The ECF's delivery partners, who bear regional responsibilities, collaborate with induction mentors to create a strong induction process. Together, they lay down the bedrock of knowledge and skills essential for independent classroom functioning.
The core induction programme is not just about formal assessment or behaviour management; it's about understanding the very essence of quality pedagogy. With one day a week dedicated to face-to-face training with skilled professionals, participants explore into the nuances of the teaching profession, exploring everything from Professional behaviours to teacher workload management.
Adherence to the ITT Core Content Framework is non-negotiable, ensuring a comprehensive coverage of teaching theory and practise.
Key Insights and Important Facts:
- Comprehensive Approach: The ECF covers everything from behaviour management to formal assessment, ensuring a well-rounded development.
- Quality Assurance: The programme adheres to the ITT Core Content Framework, maintaining high standards.
- Support System: Induction mentors play a crucial role, providing continuous support and guidance.
- New Training: Both online training and face-to-face interactions are utilised, offering a dynamic learning experience.
- Evidence-Based: Rooted in research, the ECF is aligned with the latest advancements in educational science.
Why was the Early Career Framework programme established?
In 2019, the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy was published by the Department for Education (DfE), which highlighted the adverse impact and major problems in education, specifically relating to the challenges in teacher retention. It was noticed that the main reason for teacher shortages was the lack of support at the start of teaching career. To provide sufficient support to the early career teachers, a reform was introduced for teacher development - the Early Career Framework (ECF).
The Early Career Framework (ECF) describes the skills and knowledge for the early career teachers, and it has been utilised for creating the 2-Year programme of training and development. This programme is aimed at providing the right support to lay the foundation of a successful and rewarding career in teaching.
ECF Core Knowledge and Teaching Skills
Teachers need to be prepared with professional knowledge in the classroom. The early career framework provides teachers with evidence-informed ideas that are deemed important for classroom practise. As well as addressing curriculum knowledge, the framework also addresses pedagogical challenges that educators will inevitably face. As well as exploring concepts such as curriculum structure and design, participants will also develop skills in areas such as:
1) Scaffolding
4) Practise, challenge and success
5) Classroom talk
6) Formative assessment
7) Structured support for learning
8) Instructions
Depending on the school context, participants will focus on these given areas with different priorities. It might be that the training materials are particularly focused upon special educational needsif there are a significant amount of special schools within the cluster. The training sessions could also be centred around quality pupil learning in secondary schools if the School hub has fewer primary schools.
Regardless of the school context, induction activities should prepare student teachers with the pedagogical strategies they need to excel in the classroom environment. Many of the principles included in the ECT induction have universal application across all school phases.
ECF Benefits for New Teachers
Early career framework is advantageous because it provides essential knowledge about different aspects of classroom practise and career progression opportunities for early career teachers. The early career teachers can get easy access to:
- A structured 2-year training and support programme and bank of resources;
- Flexibility, online learning resources;
- Expert resources;
- Face to face training modules;
- Career professional development events; and
- A dedicated mentor.
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School Benefits and Teacher Retention
An early career framework is advantageous for the schools as they can benefit from:
- Online and face-to-face training for the experienced teachers to become a great mentor;
- Online Materials and training for mentors and early career teacher;
- A network of mentors to share professional classroom strategies;
- Training for the Senior Leaders to introduce the structured two-year package of training and development to the school.
ECF Eligibility and Requirements
Every early career teacher, previously called newly qualified teacher (NQT), across each subject and phase at a state-funded school, is entitled to the ECF programme.
From September 2021, it has been made mandatory for every school to enrol each early career teacher (ECT) for the structured Two-Year Package of Early Career Framework programme.
ECF Programme Options and Duration
The 2-year ECF Roll-out programme was initiated in September 2020 for the selected school partners in Greater Manchester, North-East, Doncaster and Bradford.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2-year ECF Roll-out programme was widened to 4,600 new educators other than early roll-out areas, who earned a 1-year package of support-based on the ECF. Those who started their ECF programmes will proceed as planned until their completion and wouldn't be affected by the launch of the new ECF national roll-out.
Statutory Induction Guidance Requirements
As part of the ECF reforms, statutory induction for new teachers was changed in September 2021. According to the new reforms, each early career teacher on statutory induction will be eligible for a structured 2-year package of high-quality professional development support based on the ECF.
Every school needs to replace its induction programme. The schools can benefit from a range of support available to ensure that they meet the statute, including an updated DfE funded provider-led programme of training and support.
Revised statutory induction guidance discusses the responsibilities of mentors, induction tutors, middle leader and career leader, to help early career teachers undertake statutory core induction programme.
Major changes are:
- An extension of the two-year induction programme.
- Early career teachers on the career induction period are now eligible for a two-year package of the programme of training and support based on the ECF.
- The completion of an early career teacher’s induction period will depend upon the satisfactory performance of the teacher against the Teachers’ Standards. After completing the professional training and development programme, the ECF should allow teachers to prove that they fulfil those standards after induction.
- Educators who began, but haven't completed induction by 1st September 2021, must proceed with the 2018 statutory induction guidance for newly qualified teachers.
Effective ECF Delivery Approaches
Schools can choose from the following 3 approaches to enable the delivery of an ECF-based induction.
- Schools can opt for a funded provider-led induction programme;
- Schools can choose to deliver their training using DfE- accredited study materials as well as access to expert resources;
- Schools can create and deliver their ECF-based induction.
- Read the revised statutory guidance;
- Select a delivery approach according to the most current requirements;
- Set up its professional development programme through Department for Education’s online service if they prefer to use an approved funded provider, or provide the authorised materials themselves.
- Initial registration: Within 28 days of starting induction
- Mentor assignment: By week 3 of your start date
- First formal assessment: Term 2 of year 1
- Final assessment submission: Within 10 working days of completion
School leaders can decide the most suitable approach after ensuring that their selected approach to induction will best suit their early career teachers and mentors.
School ECF Implementation Requirements
Those who choose to create and deliver their 2-year induction programme, using DfE- accredited materials and training, for early career teachers and their mentors on basis of the ECF must know that the DfE will provide funding for the time off timetable for the mentors and early career teachers; schools will be paid directly in the second year of induction.
These schools are expected to develop a 2-year programme of support and training including every ‘learn how to’ and ‘learn that’ practise statements in the ECF. Also, they must provide evidence to their appropriate body to ascertain their induction programme meets statutory requirements and is ECF-based. These schools need to get in touch with their appropriate body for additional details of what body of evidence will be needed in the summer term. Schools that will create and deliver theirindividual ECF-based induction wouldn't use DfE’s online resources to run their induction.
It is expected that the early career framework reforms will bring a significant change and support early career teachers, through a funded, provider-led programme entitlement to professional development. The early career framework is part of the teacher recruitment and retention strategy of the local government, which aims to provide initial teacher training and development opportunities to early career teachers. The early career framework sets out what exactly an early career teacher must know, and learn the best ways of teaching, in their first 2 years of teaching careers. Before September 2021, every school was expected to:
Essential ECF Learning Materials for New Teachers
The Early Career Framework provides new teachers with a wealth of carefully curated learning materials designed to bridge the gap between initial teacher training and confident classroom practise. These resources form the backbone of professional development during the crucial first two years of teaching.
Core to the ECF materials are structured self-study modules that complement weekly mentor meetings. These include video exemplars showing experienced teachers modelling effective strategies, such as cold-calling techniques to maintain pupil engagement or worked examples for teaching complex mathematical concepts. Each module connects directly to the Teachers' Standards, ensuring new teachers understand how theoretical knowledge translates into observable classroom behaviours.
Practical toolkits feature prominently in ECF resources, offering ready-to-use templates for lesson planning, behaviour tracking charts, and formative assessment rubrics. For instance, the 'Responsive Teaching Toolkit' provides sentence stems for effective questioning, helping ECTs move beyond simple yes/no queries to develop pupils' critical thinking. Similarly, the 'Classroom Climate Resources' include scripts for establishing routines, particularly valuable during those challenging first weeks of September.
Research digests accompany each learning strand, distilling complex educational research into accessible summaries. These aren't academic exercises; they're practical guides that explain why certain approaches work. When exploring cognitive load theory, for example, materials include worked examples showing how to break down GCSE science concepts into manageable chunks, complete with checking-for-understanding prompts.
Digital portfolios enable ECTs to document their journey, collecting evidence of impact through pupil work samples, reflection journals, and video recordings of their teaching. This evidence base proves invaluable during progress reviews and helps teachers identify their own development needs, transforming abstract learning objectives into concrete professional growth.
Important ECF Dates and Deadlines for 2025
Understanding the ECF timeline is crucial for new teachers planning their career progression. The programme operates on a rolling basis, but specific dates determine your cohort placement and funding eligibility.
Teachers starting their induction before 1 September 2025 will follow the current ECF structure, with statutory induction lasting two full school years. Your appropriate body must register you by the October half-term to secure funded provision. For example, if you begin teaching in January 2025, you'll complete your ECF by December 2026, with progress reviews scheduled each term.
Those beginning after 1 September 2025 should note potential changes to the framework structure. The Department for Education typically announces modifications by the preceding Easter, giving schools time to prepare. Key registration windows include:
Practical tip: Create a shared calendar with your mentor marking all ECF milestones. Include observation dates, portfolio submission deadlines, and professional development sessions. Many successful ECTs use backwards planning from their final assessment date, scheduling regular evidence collection points throughout each term.
Remember that bank holidays and school closures don't pause your induction clock; the two-year period runs continuously from your start date. Missing key deadlines can delay your qualification, so maintain regular communication with your induction coordinator about upcoming requirements.
Official ECF Documentation and Handbook Resources
The ECF Handbook serves as the cornerstone document for all participating teachers and mentors, providing comprehensive guidance on programme requirements and expectations. Published by the Department for Education, this essential resource outlines the eight teaching standards that form the framework's foundation, from establishing high expectations to managing behaviour effectively.
Within the handbook, teachers will find detailed breakdowns of each standard alongside practical implementation strategies. For instance, Standard 4 (Plan and teach well-structured lessons) includes specific guidance on lesson sequencing, with templates showing how to build knowledge progressively across a topic. The documentation also provides exemplar observation forms that mentors can adapt, highlighting what effective practise looks like at different career stages.
Beyond the core handbook, schools receive supplementary materials including mentor training guides and assessment criteria sheets. These resources prove invaluable during weekly mentor meetings; one particularly useful tool is the 'Professional Development Journal' template, which helps early career teachers track their progress against each standard whilst recording evidence from their classroom practise. Many schools have found success using the provided discussion prompts during mentor sessions, such as exploring how cognitive load theoryapplies when introducing new mathematical concepts.
The documentation suite also includes statutory guidance clarifying legal requirements and timelines. This ensures schools understand their obligations, from providing 10% timetable reduction in year one to conducting formal assessment points. Regular updates to these documents reflect emerging research; recent additions include expanded sections on adaptive teaching strategies and evidence-informed approaches to supporting pupils with SEND, demonstrating the framework's commitment to evolving alongside educational research.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is the Early Career Framework and how long does it last?
The Early Career Framework (ECF) is a comprehensive 2-year training and development programme designed to support new teachers during their early career. It provides fully funded, evidence-based professional development that includes weekly dedicated training time, mentorship support, and both online and face-to-face learning opportunities. The programme replaced the previous one-year induction system in September 2021 and is now mandatory for all early career teachers in state-funded schools.
Who is eligible to participate in the ECF programme and is it mandatory?
Every early career teacher (previously called newly qualified teacher or NQT) working in state-funded schools across all subjects and phases is entitled to participate in the ECF programme. Since September 2021, it has become mandatory for all schools to enrol their early career teachers in this structured 2-year package. This ensures that no new teacher misses out on essential professional development support during their crucial early years.
What specific teaching skills and knowledge areas does the ECF cover?
The ECF addresses essential pedagogical areas including scaffolding, metacognition, working memory, formative assessment, classroom talk, and structured support for learning. The programme covers both curriculum knowledge and practical classroom challenges, with training materials adapted to specific school contexts such as special educational needs or secondary school environments. All content is grounded in evidence-based research and aligns with the ITT Core Content Framework to ensure comprehensive coverage of teaching theory and practise.
How does the mentorship component work within the ECF programme?
Each early career teacher is assigned a dedicated induction mentor who provides continuous support and guidance throughout the 2-year programme. Schools receive online and face-to-face training to help experienced teachers become effective mentors, and there's a network of mentors available to share professional classroom strategies. The mentors work closely with regional delivery partners to create a strong induction process that supports new teachers' development towards independent classroom functioning.
What are the main benefits of the ECF for schools and teacher retention?
Schools implementing the ECF report stronger teacher retention rates, helping to address the early-career exodus that has plagued the profession. The programme provides schools with training for senior leaders, online materials for mentors, and access to teaching school hubs that support the induction process. Additionally, schools benefit from having better-prepared teachers, as ECF participants report improvements in their teaching skills.
How is the ECF training delivered and what time commitment is required?
The ECF combines flexible online learning resources with face-to-face training modules, dedicating one day per week to professional development with skilled professionals. Training includes expert resources, career professional development events, and access to a comprehensive bank of learning materials. This blended approach ensures teachers receive both theoretical knowledge and practical application opportunities whilst maintaining their classroom responsibilities.
Why was the Early Career Framework established and what problem does it solve?
The ECF was established following the 2019 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which identified lack of early career support as the main reason for teacher shortages. The programme transforms teacher induction from a 'sink-or-swim' survival approach to structured professional mastery, addressing the major retention crisis in education. By providing comprehensive 2-year support instead of the previous inadequate one-year programme, the ECF aims to lay the foundation for successful and rewarding teaching careers.