About this guidance
The Early Career Framework
The status of the Teachers' Standards
The structure, content and application of the Teachers’ Standards
Equal opportunities
Respecting rights, entitlements and professionalism
Demonstrating progress towards the Teachers’ Standards
Points for reflection and discussion on the Teachers’ Standards
Part one: Teaching
Part two: Personal and professional conduct
Further information and support

About this guidance

This guidance is intended to support you as an Early Career Teacher (ECT) to use the Teachers’ Standards to assess your progress and performance during induction. The guidance contains information about:

• the legal status of the Teachers’ Standards in relation to statutory induction;

• approaches to the use of the Teachers’ Standards in the assessment of ECTs’ practice;

• key principles that should inform use of the Teachers’ Standards in practice; and

• use of the Standards in supporting professional discussion about progress towards successful completion of induction.

The information and advice set out in this guidance is intended to help you secure your rights and entitlements. As well as helping you to review your progress towards meeting the level of performance required to complete induction successfully, the guidance will help you identify your professional development needs, including any additional experience, monitoring and support you might need. It will also enable you to engage in meaningful professional dialogue about your induction.

This guidance relates to the induction of ECTs. The NASUWT has produced separate advice and information on the use of the Teachers’ Standards for other teachers.

The Early Career Framework

The Early Career Framework (ECF) was introduced in September 2021 and sets out the skills, knowledge and experience that induction should secure for new teachers. Further information about the ECF is available on our Early Career Framework (England) page and in the New Teacher section of this website.

The DfE has produced produced specific guidance on the ECF for new teachers that tackles some of the misconceptions about the programme that emerged during the first year of its roll-out. This guidance, alongside the NASUWT’s advice, will be helpful in addressing many concerns that can arise during induction.

It is important to note the clear message from the DfE that the ECF is not an assessment tool for ECTs and should not be used to determine whether or not a teacher has completed induction successfully. Instead, assessment of ECTs during induction is made against the Teachers’ Standards. This guidance sets out how assessment during induction can be undertaken in a way that is appropriate professionally and that will avoid excessive and unnecessary workload burdens.

The status of the Teachers’ Standards

The law requires the Teachers’ Standards to be used to assess ECT performance at the end of induction. The Statutory Guidance on Induction makes it clear that a key objective of induction is to enable an ECT to demonstrate an ability to meet the Teachers’ Standards consistently over a sustained period of professional practice. The Statutory Guidance also confirms that the decision about whether the ECT has reached the level of performance required to complete induction should take into account the context within which they work and must be made on the basis of what can reasonably be expected of them by the end of their induction period.

The Teachers’ Standards do not replace or override your other key contractual and statutory rights. In particular, the Teachers’ Standards do not replace the professional duties and responsibilities set out in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) that apply as law in schools in the maintained sector. The Teachers’ Standards are not a contract of employment or a job description.

Nothing in the Teachers’ Standards militates against the right of teachers and school leaders to take lawful industrial action.

The structure, content and application of the Teachers’ Standards

The Teachers’ Standards are organised into three main sections.

Part One is comprised of eight Standards that relate to teaching. Part Two sets out the Standard for professional and personal conduct.

The Preamble to Part One and Part Two seeks to summarise the ‘values and behaviour that all teachers must demonstrate throughout their careers’, but is not intended to be interpreted as an additional discrete Standard.

Each Standard in Part One is accompanied by a number of bulleted subheadings. These subheadings do not constitute Standards in their own right. The subheadings merely seek to ‘amplify’ the Standards and provide contextual information to support the interpretation of the Standards. Therefore, there is no statutory or legal requirement for your performance to be evaluated with reference to the aspects of professional practice described in the subheadings. Further, it is not appropriate for your school to substitute additional descriptors for the wording used in the Standards or to add additional requirements.

Contact the NASUWT for advice if you believe that criteria are being used inappropriately in the assessment of your performance.

Equality considerations

Schools have a legal responsibility to ensure that they apply the Teachers’ Standards in a way that does not discriminate unlawfully on the grounds of age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation; part-time working, fixed-term contract or trade union activities. State-funded schools also have responsibilities under the public sector equality duty (PSED) of the Equality Act 2010 to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different groups, including through their use of the Teachers’ Standards.

Your school should use the Teachers’ Standards to assess your progress and performance in a way that is fair, transparent, and ensures consistent and objective evaluation of your skills, knowledge and professional understanding. The approach described in this guidance can help schools to implement effective equalities practice in relation to induction.

Contact the NASUWT for advice if you believe that your school may be discriminating or is not fulfilling its responsibilities under equalities or employment legislation.

Respecting rights, entitlements and professionalism

The Teachers’ Standards describe what you are expected to know, understand and be able to do in order to complete induction successfully. Therefore, your school should provide you with a structured system of support to enable you to build on the knowledge, skills and understanding developed during your initial teacher training.

It is critical that you receive your statutory and professional rights and entitlements during induction. These include:

• a reduced timetable of no more than 90% of the timetable of other main scale teachers in the school in the first year of induction and 95% in the second year;

• in addition, the same right as all other teachers covered by the terms of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) to a minimum of 10% of timetabled teaching time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA);

• an individual programme of monitoring and support, which includes sustained and relevant professional development opportunities; and

• an in-school induction mentor to support you to make sustained progress towards meeting the Teachers’ Standards.

More information about your rights and entitlements can be found on our New Teacher web page.

You should be treated as a professional during the course of your induction. This means that you should be involved actively in all relevant discussions with your induction tutor, mentor, line manager or headteacher about your progress and development. It also means that your views should be taken into account in respect of decisions that affect you.

If you are not receiving your statutory rights and entitlements, you should raise your concerns with your induction tutor or mentor and seek the support and advice of the NASUWT Representative if necessary. If it is not possible to resolve the concerns at school level, you should contact the NASUWT.

Demonstrating progress towards the Teachers’ Standards

Evidence about progress towards meeting the Teachers’ Standards should be collected through ongoing professional dialogue as part of an effective monitoring and support programme. The DfE is clear that you should not be required to compile an additional evidence base in order to support assessment of your practice during the course of your induction and confirms that evidence generated during the course of your routine professional activities as a teacher will provide enough evidence to support the assessment of your progress against the Teachers’ Standards.

You may wish to keep a profile of your achievements as part of the process of self-review and to support professional dialogue with others. Given that professional reflection is a highly personalised process, you are encouraged to develop your own format for recording your ongoing review of professional practice. Such systems should not be onerous or burdensome. Further information on effective approaches to self-review and evaluation can be found in the NASUWT’s support materials distributed to all ECT members.

Points for reflection and discussion on the Teachers’ Standards

The points below are intended to aid the process of self-review. They should help you engage with mentors, tutors and other relevant colleagues in discussions about your progress and achievements. The accompanying questions should help you identify your monitoring, support and professional development needs.

Part One: Teaching

1. A teacher must set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils

Points for reflection

This Standard relates to the educational environment and context that teachers create in order to ensure that pupils are able to take responsibility for their own learning and are able to achieve the levels of progress and attainment of which they are capable. It incorporates key issues of practice including the expectations made of pupils about their learning and the extent to which pupils are encouraged to participate in classroom activities.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• using a variety of techniques and strategies to develop pupils’ confidence and trust;

• developing an understanding of teachers’ responsibilities in relation to the health, wellbeing and safety of children and young people;

• using your knowledge and understanding of your subject/curriculum area to stimulate and challenge learners;

• making use of subject or curriculum knowledge and understanding to challenge and stimulate learners; and

• planning lessons that make progressively challenging demands on all pupils and have clear, specific and achievable learning objectives that take into account prior attainment as well as expectations in the next Key Stage.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• What opportunities have you had to develop and promote positive behaviour, attitudes and values through your teaching?

• What opportunities are there for you to keep up to date with the latest statutory requirements for your subject and/or curriculum area?

• How confident are you about the ways in which you might reasonably contribute to work to ensure that the pupils for whom you are responsible are safe and that health and safety regulations are complied with?

• What additional support or guidance do you feel you need?

2. A teacher must promote good progress and outcomes by pupils

Points for reflection

This Standard involves elements of pedagogy focused on understanding and knowledge of the ways in which pupils’ performance can be sustained and enhanced and the factors that can influence their development and ability to learn.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• helping pupils to understand the different ways they learn and to think about which approaches are appropriate to the task they are working on;

• communicating with pupils, parents and colleagues on issues related to educational progress and attainment;

• developing and maintaining up-to-date knowledge and understanding of an appropriate range of teaching, learning and behaviour management strategies and how these can be used and adapted to meet the specific needs of individual pupils and classes;

• making effective personalised provision for the pupils for whom teachers are responsible, including those with English as an additional language or who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), and taking effective account of diversity and the need to promote equality through approaches to teaching and learning; and

• enabling pupils to reflect on their learning and progress and identify how their skills, knowledge and understand can continue to develop.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• How can you develop your knowledge and understanding about the assessment requirements and expectations of learners in the age range above and below that which you teach?

• What opportunities have been made available to you to develop your awareness of the range of effective approaches to the use of planning to support professional practice?

• How have you been supported to develop your practice in helping pupils to reflect on their own learning and to take responsibility for their future progress and achievement?

• What additional support or guidance do you think you need?

3. A teacher must demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge

Points for reflection

This Standard relates to the subject and curriculum knowledge and skills that teachers are required to demonstrate in order to maintain effective practice. It includes consideration of the ways in which pupils’ interest and commitment towards the areas they study can be developed and maintained.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• showing an awareness of the relevant statutory and non-statutory curricula and frameworks in your planning and teaching;

• taking steps to ensure that you maintain and update your subject/curriculum area knowledge;

• using your knowledge and understanding of your subject/curriculum area to stimulate and challenge learners; and

• seeking evidence about improvements to teaching and learning from a variety of sources such as recent and relevant research and the practice of other colleagues, in school and beyond.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• Are there any aspects of your professional activities that you could think could be developed further through, for example, enhanced knowledge and use of ICT skills or approaches to using your personal literacy and numeracy skills to support pupils’ progress and achievement?

• What opportunities have been made available to you to develop your subject/curriculum knowledge and understanding?

• Have your school’s expectations in relation to approaches to teaching and learning in your specific subject/phase and identifying and exploiting cross-curricular learning activities been made clear to you?

• What additional support or guidance do you think you need?

4. A teacher must plan and teach well-structured lessons

Points for reflection

This Standard reflects the fact that teaching needs to be based on effective planning that takes account of assessment evidence of learners’ progress and prior attainment and uses this to set meaningful and achievable learning objectives that allow learners to build on and strengthen what they have already learned.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• planning lessons, homework and other out-of-class assignments and activities that allow learners to choose, use and apply skills they have acquired within lessons;

• planning lessons that make progressively challenging demands on all learners and have clear, specific and achievable learning objectives that take into account prior attainment, as well as expectations in the next career stage;

• taking opportunities to discuss pupils’ learning with pupils themselves, their parents or carers, and colleagues and using their feedback to help you develop your teaching plans; and

• explaining confidently to pupils the purpose of a lesson and its learning objectives, supporting pupils’ understanding of this through the use of questioning and relevant tasks that reinforce lesson objectives.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• What preparation and support have you been offered to guide you in planning your lessons or, where applicable, out-of-school learning activities?

• Have you been made aware of the school’s policy on homework and its implications for your practice?

• What support has been made available to you to ensure that your teaching and learning takes practical account of diversity and promotes equality and inclusion?

• What support have you been offered to allow you to review constructively and positively your teaching and its impact on learners’ progress and attainment?

• What additional support and guidance do you think you need?

5. A teacher must adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils

Points for reflection

This Standard relates to the need for the diverse range of interests, backgrounds, circumstances, abilities and needs of pupils to be reflected effectively in approaches to teaching and learning.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• developing an awareness and understanding of strategies, including differentiation, that ensure that learning opportunities are meaningful and accessible to all pupils;

• knowing what resources exist in your school to make provision for pupils such as those with SEND or those for whom English is an additional language;

• using knowledge obtained from others about pupils’ development, circumstances and wellbeing to inform your own planning and practice;

• adapting your teaching style where necessary to accommodate and recognise diversity and pupils’ different learning needs;

• using a range of appropriate physical and, where available and appropriate, human resources to support effective differentiation; and

• helping pupils to understand the different ways they learn and to think about which approaches are appropriate to the task they are working on.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• Have you been made aware and helped to understand the equality and diversity implications of your school's policies, particularly those related to special educational needs, teaching and learning, and the management of behaviour?

• What teaching resources to support effective differentiation have been made available to you and what opportunities have you taken to apply them?

• Have you been supported in taking opportunities such as parents’ evenings to discuss pupils' learning objectives and to engage parents and carers in their children’s learning?

• Have you been made aware of the range of strategies used in your school to engage and motivate different groups of learners?

• Are you kept fully informed of the range of other colleagues’ responsibilities and how they can help you meet the diverse needs of all the pupils for whom you are responsible, including, where appropriate, the SENCO, inclusion manager, gifted and talented leading teachers, childcare workers, health service professionals, and language assistants?

• What additional support or guidance do you think you would need?

6. A teacher must make accurate and productive use of assessment

Points for reflection

This Standard relates to the need for approaches to teaching and learning to be informed by reliable and valid assessment of pupils’ progress and achievement.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• finding out what statistical information is available in your school and how it is used by colleagues;

• developing knowledge about how and where to access information in order to advise learners about their attainment, current progress and areas for improvement;

• developing your understanding of how different types of assessment can be used to identify personal learning needs;

• using information from assessment to set future learning goals for pupils and to help them understand what is required to continue to develop and improve; and

• using assessment to continue to refine your teaching approaches and/or modify your planning as required.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• From whom can you seek support, where appropriate, to help you implement and keep up to date with current assessment policies and practices?

• Have you been informed of the different pupil monitoring, assessment and recording strategies used in your school?

• What support have you had to use assessment data and other evidence about pupils’ past achievements to set challenging learning objectives and to enable them to identify the progress they have made and what they need to do to improve?

• What additional support or guidance do you feel you need?

7. A teacher must manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment

Points for reflection

This Standard relates to the need for teachers to contribute to the creation of effective and purposeful learning environments by developing their knowledge and understanding of effective behaviour management strategies and to make effective use of agreed whole school policies and procedures on the promotion of good behaviour and addressing pupil indiscipline.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• developing activities that promote and develop learners’ social, emotional and behavioural skills;

• developing and using a range of strategies to manage behaviour and create a positive, calm and purposeful learning environment;

• understanding how consistent application of whole school policies and procedures in relation to behaviour management are important in creating a positive learning environment; and

• becoming aware of sources of advice and expertise in the promotion of good behaviour, including the roles of headteachers and other senior colleagues within the school.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• What opportunities have you had to develop and promote positive behaviour, attitudes and values through your training?

• Where can you find out about behaviour management strategies and any specific issues concerning behaviour in your school?

• Have the provisions of the school’s behaviour management policy been explained to you?

• Are you aware of sources of advice and support on the management of behaviour?

• What additional support or guidance do you think you need?

8. A teacher must fulfil wider professional responsibilities

Points for reflection

This Standard relates to the relationships that teachers are required to develop with colleagues, parents and, where appropriate, staff working for wider children’s services. It is also focused on the ways in which teachers are engaged in reflecting on their practice and the nature of the contribution that they can make to the effectiveness of school through their collaboration with colleagues and other colleagues in the context of their rights and entitlements as professional teachers.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• taking opportunities to communicate with parents and colleagues, in and out of the classroom, and to establish relationships with them which encourage discussions about common issues relating to pupils and provide relevant information about their progress, development and wellbeing;

• implementing working protocols and engaging in collaborative working such as team teaching and linking with specialist teachers who work with children with special educational needs, disabilities, or those who have English as an additional language;

• developing a general knowledge and understanding of the range of agencies, organisations and colleagues working with pupils, both inside and outside school, and their role in promoting the wider wellbeing of children and young people;

• planning and implementing aspects of support work and guiding the work of teaching assistants and other colleagues where appropriate;

• taking opportunities, for example, in staff, team or departmental meetings, to contribute to discussions about the development of any new policies or practices governing the teaching profession and the workplace and implementing them;

• using the induction entitlement to a ten per cent reduced teaching timetable to engage in professional development opportunities and activities;

• taking opportunities provided to you to reflect with other colleagues on your own progress against your identified development needs and the needs of learners;

• applying constructive criticism to new ideas, research and teaching and learning approaches;

• understanding the range of contractual, statutory and trade union rights of teachers and ECTs, how these rights are essential to ensuring that professional responsibilities can be discharged effectively, and where advice and support can be sought to ensure that these rights and entitlements are secured in practice.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• What support and guidance have you received to enable you to develop constructive relationships with learners, parents and colleagues?

• To what extent have your colleagues involved you in the planning of parents’ evenings?

• What guidance and/or opportunities have you been offered in your school to help you work collaboratively with colleagues?

• How have you been supported to identify your professional development needs?

• How has the school responded to meeting your professional development needs?

• Are you receiving all your statutory and contractual entitlements, including your ten per cent reduced teaching timetable?

• Have you been given any suggestions or guidance on how to make best use of your induction entitlement of a ten per cent reduced teaching timetable and how have you applied any such advice?

• What feedback, new ideas and suggestions have your received from your mentor, line manager and others senior staff within your school and how has this made a difference to your practice?

• What additional support and advice do you think you need?

Part Two: Personal and professional conduct

This Standard relates to the personal and professional conduct expected of teachers and the statutory frameworks within which teachers are required to work. It includes knowledge and understanding of requirements for the safeguarding and wellbeing of children and young people and approaches to promoting equality and diversity and challenging prejudice and discrimination.

Aspects of practice covered by this Standard include:

• finding out about relevant workplace policies and practices and current legislation concerning the rights of children;

• developing and maintaining constructive and appropriate relationships with pupils;

• developing knowledge of how and when to access appropriate information regarding safeguarding, using the experience and expertise of key personnel;

• making judgements, with support, about how to act to safeguard a child or young person and understanding local arrangements in respect of safeguarding;

• developing knowledge about your school policy and guidance and about how to recognise children who may be at risk of neglect or abuse;

• developing an awareness of teachers’ responsibilities regarding confidentiality and sharing information and when and how information about an individual child or young person should be shared with others and the actions to take;

• developing your knowledge about how to respond to concerns about a child or young person’s development; and

• understanding ways in which the professional practice of teachers can promote the principles of inclusion and equal opportunity.

Questions to support self-reflection and inform discussion with your induction mentor/tutor:

• What information and briefings have you received on the current legal requirements and local arrangements for safeguarding children and young people and the implications for your practice?

• What teaching resources that reflect cultural diversity have been made available to you and what opportunities have you had to apply them?

• Have you been made aware of which colleague you would need to approach to ask for help in dealing with concerns about a pupil’s development and wellbeing?

• Have you been informed about the local protocols for information sharing and the confidentiality of pupils’ personal data?

• What further support and advice do you think you need?

Further information and support

If you have concerns about your induction arrangements, please email our Member Support Advice Team.

 

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