Guidance

Headteachers: responsibilities for early career teacher entitlement

Published 22 April 2025

Applies to England

Headteachers’ responsibilities

The early career teacher entitlement (ECTE) is a 2-year programme that supports early career teachers (ECTs) when they start their teaching career.

As a headteacher, you have overall responsibility for the ECTE in your school.

This includes:

• appointing an appropriate body
• choosing a training programme option (and training provider, if your school chooses the ‘provider-led’ training option)
• assuring the quality of your school’s training programme (if your school chooses the ‘school-led’ training option)
• choosing and supporting induction tutors and mentors
• ensuring that your ECTs and mentors get their time off timetable entitlements
• consulting with your appropriate body on any special circumstances, for example managing the entitlement for part-time teachers, long-term supply teachers or long-term absences
• making final recommendations to your appropriate body on whether your ECTs have met the teachers’ standards
• keeping and maintaining ECTs’ records

Find out more about headteacher responsibilities in section 5 of induction for early career teachers.

Headteachers can delegate ECTE tasks

Although headteachers have overall responsibility, you can delegate and share some tasks related to the ECTE in your school.

Induction tutors help headteachers to co-ordinate ECT activities and will often lead on them.

Find out how induction tutors support ECTs.

Appoint an appropriate body

Your school must appoint an appropriate body.

ECTs cannot start their entitlement until:

• your school has appointed an appropriate body
• they’ve been registered with your appropriate body

Appropriate bodies assure the quality of ECTE by:

• checking that your school or setting is suitable for delivering ECT activities
• checking that ECTs receive their statutory entitlements, for example that they are assigned a dedicated mentor and they get time off timetable to complete ECTE activities like training and mentoring sessions
• making sure that support, assessment and guidance for ECTs are in place
• making sure that school-led ECTE training programmes cover the initial teacher training and early career framework (ITTECF) (if your school chooses the ‘school-led’ training option)

Find out how to appoint an appropriate body at set up and manage the early career teacher entitlement.

Choose a training programme option

Your school’s ECTE training programme can be either:

• supplied and delivered by an approved lead provider (we call this ‘provider-led’)
• designed and delivered by your own school (we call this ‘school-led’)

If your school chooses the school-led option

Headteachers are responsible for putting in place an appropriate training programme. If your school designs its own training programme, you should:

• make sure it covers every ‘learn that’ and ‘learn how to’ statement in the ITTECF
• tell your appropriate body – it’ll need to check your programme to make sure it covers the ITTECF in full

There are freely available materials designed to cover the ITTECF in full that schools can use if they choose the school-led option.

Find out how to choose a training programme option at set up and manage the early career teacher entitlement.

Choose an induction tutor

Headteachers should identify and choose a person to act as an induction tutor. You should appoint someone who has qualified teacher status (QTS).

The induction tutor is an important role. The person you choose will need to:

• co-ordinate and support ECTE in your school
• make judgements about an ECT’s progress in relation to the teachers’ standards

A headteacher or principal can be an induction tutor and they must be given enough time to carry it out effectively.

Keep the induction tutor and mentor roles separate

You should keep these roles separate. A person should only have both roles in exceptional circumstances.

If your school needs to combine the roles, you should make sure the person:

• can manage the full responsibilities of both roles
• keeps mentoring and assessment sessions separate

Find out how to choose an induction tutor at set up and manage the early career teacher entitlement.

Time off timetable entitlements

Headteachers should ensure that ECTs and mentors get their time off timetable entitlements.

Your school receives DfE funding to cover time off for ECTE activities.

Manage special circumstances

The length and content of the ECTE can be extended or reduced in special circumstances. This includes:

• reductions due to the ECT having extensive previous teaching experience
• extensions where circumstances mean it’s reasonable to give an ECT more time to demonstrate that they meet the teachers’ standards
• an ECT’s option to extend when they’ve taken statutory leave, such as paternity or maternity leave

You should speak to your appropriate body if you think an extension or reduction might be appropriate.

Find out about managing special circumstances and change.

Make final recommendations to your appropriate body

Headteachers need to make a recommendation to the school’s appropriate body at the end of the ECT’s induction.

You should use the ECT’s final formal assessment for the recommendation and it should:

• record if the ECT’s performance has met or not met the teachers’ standards
• state if there’s a need for an extended ECTE

After the final assessment report, your appropriate body will:

• decide if the ECT has met the teachers’ standards
• report their decision on the ECT’s record

Find out more about reviews and assessments in section 2 of induction for early career teachers.

Maintain and keep records

You should:

• maintain accurate records of the ECTE in your school, including your ECTs’ progress and formal reviews
• keep all relevant documentation for 6 years