Newly qualified teachers in England and Wales undertake a year-long induction period to develop their skills and enable them to teach confidently in any school.
When you've successfully completed induction you should be able to teach confidently in any school.
Your induction year usually begins with your first paid teaching post and will help you to develop your teaching skills, building on what you have learned during your training and providing you with more experience. When you have successfully completed induction you should be able to teach confidently in any school.
You have only one chance to complete statutory induction. You must have gained qualified teacher status (QTS) before you begin your induction. Induction includes two main elements: a personalised programme of development support and an assessment against the Teachers’ Standards, the framework of professional standards for teaching overseen by the Department for Education.
Induction can be carried out in nearly all state schools, except those on special measures. It can be undertaken in independent schools, academies and free schools, though these institutions are not required to offer it. You can also work through your induction programme at British Schools Overseas, pupil referral units or independent nursery schools, as long as they meet the required conditions.
How does induction for newly qualified teachers work?
Induction is completed across the equivalent of three school terms, with assessment at the end of each term. You can undertake induction on either a full-time or part-time basis.
During induction you should receive the following support, in addition to your individual programme of professional development:
- 10% reduction in your teaching timetable, in addition to the standard 10% planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time available to teachers.
- Support from an induction tutor,who oversees and coordinates induction for ECT's in the school.
- Regular reviews of your progress, including discussions at the end of each term. The assessment you receive at the end of the process should not come as a surprise.
Following the final assessment at the end of the third term, your head teacher should make a report to the relevant organisation, referred to by the Department for Education as the ‘appropriate body’, making a recommendation about whether your progress against the Teachers’ Standards is satisfactory.
The appropriate body decides whether or not you have met the requirements for successfully completing induction and writes to you, the head teacher and your employer setting out the decision. The appropriate body must also notify the Teaching Regulation Agency of the outcome.
The appropriate body can be a local authority, teaching school or the National Induction Panel for Teachers (NIPT), which oversees the induction of NQTs in academies and maintained schools. If you undertake induction at an independent school the appropriate body may be the Independent Schools Teacher Induction Panel (ISTIP).
NQTs are encouraged to start their induction as soon as possible after gaining QTS. There is no set time limit for starting or completing induction, but you will be required to have completed induction to teach in most maintained schools in England. Appropriate bodies can reduce the induction period to a minimum of a term if the NQT is deemed to be meeting the Teachers’ Standards and can show this through past experience.
Induction and supply teaching
If you start work as a supply teacher, any placement that is shorter than one term cannot be counted towards induction. You can undertake short-term supply work of less than one term without completing induction for a maximum of five years.
If a short-term supply teaching contract is extended beyond one term and it is clear that it is going to continue for a further term or more, an induction programme must be put in place.
Questions to ask your teaching employer about induction
- Will my induction tutor be an experienced teacher?
- What time will be allocated to facilitate meetings with my induction tutor?
- Does this school work in isolation or with other schools to deliver induction?
- Will I have a teaching assistant? (mainly primary)
- Will I be a form tutor? (secondary)
- Have other NQTs recently joined the school?
This article was last updated December 2022.
