Leaving a school during ECT induction

Leaving a school partway through induction does not wipe out the induction you have done. In England, the statutory guidance says that if you leave after at least one term, your school is expected to complete an interim assessment before you go, and your new school picks up the remaining time. What counts is how much induction you have completed and whether you worked long enough in the post. This page covers England. Wales has its own induction regulations.

Resignation dates

NASUWT says an early career teacher in England has the same resignation dates as other teachers in a school. If you give notice properly, the time you spent there is likely to count towards induction. If you resign and leave outside the usual dates, NASUWT advises checking whether the time at that school counts. The dates are in the teacher resignation deadlines guide, and the early release guide covers asking to go sooner.

The interim assessment

The guidance covers an ECT who leaves a post after completing one term or more but before the next formal assessment. The induction tutor or headteacher is expected to complete an interim assessment before you leave. It records your progress and performance, the length of induction completed, and the days you have been absent since the last assessment. The guidance gives it most weight where concerns about progress have arisen, and it is also expected if you leave during your final term of induction.

If the interim assessment cannot be done before you go, for example when an absent ECT leaves without returning, the head is still expected to complete the report and give a copy to the appropriate body and to you.

The headteacher also has to tell the appropriate body when an ECT leaves before completing the period. The appropriate body then notifies the Department for Education through its recording service.

Starting in a new school

Your new headteacher should contact your previous appropriate body for your progress reviews and assessment reports, including any interim assessment. They should work out how much induction time is left and tell your new appropriate body about any concerns your previous employer raised. Ask your outgoing induction tutor for copies of your records before you leave. The moving schools guide covers the pay and pension side of a move.

The one-term minimum

Induction needs a minimum period of employment of one term, or the equivalent for part-time staff. The guidance says the minimum exists so you work in a school long enough to be supported and assessed against all of the Teachers’ Standards. Short-term supply work of less than one term cannot count towards induction.

Absence and extensions

Induction is automatically extended when your absences in a year of induction total 30 days or more. Statutory maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption, parental bereavement, carer’s and neonatal care leave are left out of that 30-day count, but they still extend induction by the days absent. If you cannot serve an extension in the same school, you must serve at least one term in a new school.

The guidance gives a worked case. Say you have been employed for a full school year of three terms but lost one term to absence. The interim assessment records the full period employed and the days absent, and shows two terms of induction completed, with a one-term absence extension left to serve. The appropriate body records only the induction completed to date, which here is two terms.

Leaving after a capability process

If a school dismisses you for capability before the end of induction, the guidance says you can still complete induction at another school. All ECTs must complete a full induction period before they can be judged to have passed or failed. If you are facing a capability process, speak to your union. The trade unions guide explains what they can do.

What to check

• your resignation date, and whether leaving outside it affects whether the time counts
• that an interim assessment is booked before your last day
• that you hold copies of your progress reviews and assessments
• how many days absent are recorded, and whether any extension applies
• whether your next post lasts at least one term

The ECT induction guide explains the full two-year structure.