Early career teachers and their mentors have struggled with a “high and complex” workload, a review of the government’s Early Career Framework (ECF) has found.

The Department for Education has published a three-year evaluation of the implementation of the ECF, which early career teachers (ECTs) follow for their first two years in the profession.

The ECF was launched in 2021 to “improve support” and teacher-training experts have said it “can now evolve” and would benefit from more “contextualised learning” and “application in classrooms”.

From this September, the ECF and Initial Teacher Training (ITT) frameworks will be combined, with the entire early career framework subject to a review in 2027.

Here are seven takeaways from the review:

1. ECF boosted ‘confidence’ and ‘job satisfaction’

ECTs reported increased confidence in all areas, but especially in “adaptive teaching practice and managing behaviour”.

Induction tutors reported “improved ECT confidence and improvements to teaching performance and job satisfaction”.

The review, led by the Institute for Employment Studies and BMG Research, also finds that ECTs felt “positive about their next steps, taking on a full teaching load and moving on with their teaching careers”.

While enthusiasm subsequently fell, there was also “increased independence [and] reduced need for support”. Most planned to stay in teaching and to stay on at their school.

Those most likely to consider leaving teaching tended to have “lower confidence in their abilities, lower satisfaction with their induction training, and perceived lower support from their schools and mentors”.

2. ECTs felt course was not tailored to their needs

However, ECTs expressed dissatisfaction with some aspects of the framework, including a “lack of relevance or tailoring to their needs”. Concerns were also raised about the “inflexibility of the training” and a “perceived repetition of content from other courses”.

ECTs expressed frustrations around the heavy workload as well as “time-consuming” induction training. Similar concerns were raised in previous DfE research, with two in 10 early career teachers saying their induction had not prepared them for a “full teaching load”.

3. Provider-led approach put system under ‘pressure’

A larger number of schools than expected opted for the provider-led approach: 94-95 per cent, instead of the predicted 75 per cent. This put the system “under immediate pressure”, the new evaluation found.

Lead providers faced challenges with the “level of demand and the volume of enquiries” about ECF-based induction, and whether delivery partners “had the capacity to support the number of ECTs”.

4. Mentors found extra workload went ‘unrecognised’

The aspect mentors found most challenging was dealing with additional workload and balancing induction programme commitments with existing work.

Some 72 per cent of mentors were middle or senior leaders, and had a full teaching schedule to juggle.

Other challenges included perceived lack of tailoring of mentor training to contexts and previous experience (some had considerable mentoring experience), lack of networking opportunities, and lack of external recognition for the commitment, expertise and enthusiasm brought by mentors.

Induction tutors also shared concerns about mentor workload. At the end of the first year, almost two-thirds thought it was too much; towards the end of the second year, half thought it too much, despite reduced hours and training.

They were concerned that the “heavy and complex workload” could make it “more challenging to recruit”.

5. School-led ECTs reported greater ‘knowledge’

Only 5 per cent of ECTs in this cohort undertook a school-led ECF-based induction programme over a provider-led approach.

This group reported “greater perceived knowledge and understanding of their induction programme” than provider-led peers. “They also reported more time on mentoring and live training, and gave higher ratings for delivery and content of their training”, the evaluation found.

However, they gave lower ratings for opportunities to network than ECTs on a provider-led programme, while heavy workload remained a concern.

6. Primary school ECTs ‘considerably’ more positive

The review notes that those in primary schools - including ECTs, mentors and induction tutors - were “more positive, often considerably so” than those in secondary schools.

“This could reflect greater challenges in securing time off-timetable in secondary schools and greater concerns around matching ECTs with mentors and in gaining contextualised materials,” the review states.

7. ECF shows ‘early signs of promise’

The evaluation finds that, while ECF implementation has “mostly been successful”, it is still “early to assess outcomes”.

The teaching sector has been “supportive” and has backed the induction reforms.

While there was criticism of the “size of the pilot” and the “speed of implementation”, there are also signs of “understanding and confidence improving across all stakeholders”.

The DfE and its “delivery agents” have “listened and taken action to engender continuous improvement”. They understood the “need for greater flexibility”.

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