Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why funding is only available for the external provision of the Early Career Framework for teachers and not school-based provision.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All state funded schools offering statutory induction receive funding to deliver the early career framework (ECF) reforms. In addition to their core funding to cover the cost of time off timetable for early career teachers (ECTs) in year one of induction, schools also receive funding which covers 5% off timetable for ECTs in year two of induction, for induction activities including ECF based training and mentor sessions. This funding also covers a dedicated mentor for each ECT, based on 20 hours of mentoring in year two of induction.
The department wants all ECTs to have access to high-quality ECF based training, so schools can choose to use a Department for Education funded training provider. The content of the providers’ programmes has been quality assured by the department and the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The quality of delivery of the programmes is also quality assured separately through Ofsted inspection. If a state funded school uses a Department for Education funded training provider, the department funds the training delivered to ECTs and their mentors by the provider, and provides additional funding to backfill the mentor time spent undertaking funded provider-led training, meaning that there is no cost for these schools.
To ensure that schools have choice and flexibility, they have the option of delivering their own ECF based training programme. For schools who choose this approach, they can choose to use the department’s accredited materials and resources, which have been independently assessed by the EEF to ensure their fidelity to the ECF. These materials are freely available to schools via the department’s ‘Manage training for early career teachers’ service, available at: https://manage-training-for-early-career-teachers.education.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the Early Career Framework for teachers.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department published interim results as part of the independent evaluation of the national roll-out of the Early Career Framework (ECF) in May 2022, and an annual summary report in March 2023. The findings of these evaluations have been broadly positive. The ongoing Core Content Framework and ECF Review is taking these findings, along with a wider range of input and evidence, into consideration when working to iterate and further improve the ECF reforms.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why Religious Education is not included in the list of subjects for English Baccalaureate qualification.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s ambition is for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) to be at the heart of each secondary school’s broader curriculum. The EBacc subjects are those considered to provide a sound basis for many degrees and a variety of careers beyond the age of 16. The EBacc was deliberately designed to be limited in size so that pupils could study other subjects, such as Religious Studies, alongside it. There are no plans to amend the composition of the EBacc.
The government recognises the importance of religious education (RE), both to pupils' wider knowledge and to society. RE offers pupils the opportunity to engage with real world issues and to develop their understanding and appreciation of the beliefs and views of others. For this reason, the teaching of RE remains compulsory throughout a pupil's schooling.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government why financial incentives for teachers are not offered for teaching additional subjects to support a broad school curriculum.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Each year the department reviews the financial incentives it offers to support the recruitment and retention of teachers where there is the greatest need. This ensures the department is providing funding where it is needed the most.
The department offers a Levelling Up Premium worth up to £3,000 tax-free annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools, including within Education Investment Areas. This supports the supply of teachers in the highest demand subjects and ensures they are placed within the schools and areas that need them the most.
The department also continues to focus initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries and scholarships on English Baccalaureate subjects, particularly those experiencing teacher shortages, to secure as many applicants as possible in subjects where schools are likely to devote the most teaching time.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adapting the Early Career Framework for teachers to take account of the need for diverse skillsets.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Early Career Framework (ECF) provider-led programmes have been designed with an evidence based approach to ensure early career teachers (ECTs) focus on the things that make the most difference to their professional practice, ensuring that every teacher receives a consistently high-quality induction. It is important that the carefully planned structure and sequence of the programmes is followed. However, programmes can and should be contextualised to an individual’s context and role and tailored to an individual's strengths and development needs.
The department has listened to the feedback on the provider-led ECF based induction programmes and is working on making improvements. The department has produced flexibilities guidance for lead providers on how ECTs can be supported to understand and apply the content of the programmes to their context and role. The department knows that there are many schools and mentors who are already managing ECF based training effectively and has invited practitioners to share how they support their ECTs to apply the content of the provider-led ECF based training programmes to their school’s context. The department has shared these examples of good practice with the sector through an online blog.
The department has publicly committed to reviewing the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework and ECF alongside each other. As part of this review, the department will continue to review how the ECF is currently delivered, which will facilitate any necessary adjustments and improvements, based on feedback, to improve the experience for ECTs and mentors.
Asked by: Lord Carrington (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reasons why there are not sufficient teacher applicants from overseas.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department welcomes talented individuals from overseas to train to teach in England. For the 2023/24 academic year the department has extended bursary and scholarship eligibility to all non-UK national trainees in physics and languages. This means international physics trainees are eligible for scholarships worth £29,000 and bursaries worth £27,000. International language trainees are eligible for scholarships of £27,000 and bursaries worth £25,000. The department is also piloting a new international relocation payment worth £10,000 to help teachers and trainees in languages and physics with the cost of visas and other expenses involved in moving to England.
The new ‘Apply for QTS in England’ service provides a fair and consistent approach to the recognition of overseas teachers’ qualifications, meaning more suitably qualified teachers from around the world have a route to gain qualified teacher status (QTS).