Academic year 2022/23

ECF and NPQ starts

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Introduction

This transparency release contains information on the number of early career teachers (ECTs) and mentors participating in the Early Career Framework (ECF) induction programme and the number of national professional qualifications (NPQs) from the reformed suite of NPQs that were started in the academic year 2022 to 2023 to date. It also includes information on the number of NPQs from the 2017 suite of NPQs that were started and completed between the academic years 2017 to 2018 and 2021 to 2022. This release covers:

  • ECTs and mentors who have started the provider-led ECF-based induction since September 2022, broken down by region and school phase;
  • the number of DfE funded reformed NPQs started since September 2022, broken down by course type, region and school phase;
  • the total number of DfE funded NPQs (2017 suite) started and completed between autumn 2017 and August 2022, broken down by course type.

This release is based on the Department for Education's (DfE) Teacher CPD Service dataset, which consists of management information submitted by lead providers. The data is accurate as of 24 February 2023 and is subject to change. It does not capture all ECTs and mentors who participate in the provider-led ECF-based induction or all teachers who started a DfE funded course, but only those teachers whose detailed were submitted to the department by lead providers as of 24 February 2023. 

The data is being published as a one-off release. The department will publish updated experimental statistics on Teacher and Leader Development: ECF and NPQs in summer 2023. 

Find out more about the ECF (opens in a new tab) and NPQs (opens in a new tab) reforms.

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Headline facts and figures - 2022/23

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ECF-based induction

This section provides a regional breakdown of the number of ECTs who started the provider-led ECF-based induction programme since September 2022 and the number of mentors who were trained as part of the provider-led ECF-based induction programme. To date, 23,313 ECTs are reported to have started the provider-led ECF-based induction programme since September 2022, each supported by one of 17,610 mentors who have received training. 

The number of reformed DfE funded ECF courses started in the academic year 2022 to 2023 only includes those for which details were submitted to DfE by lead providers by 24 February 2023. 

We cannot say what proportion of ECTs are participating in the national roll-out of the provider-led ECF-based induction programme in the academic year 2022 to 2023, as the School Workforce Census (SWC) data from 2022 is not yet available. In the academic year 2021 to 2022 the percentage of ECTs who appeared in the SWC and who started the provider-led ECF-based induction was 93 per cent. It is expected that the vast majority of ECTs in England continue to be enrolled in the provider-led ECF-based induction programme. 

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NPQs

Reformed NPQs

This section provides breakdowns of DfE funded NPQ starts since September 2022 by region, course type and phase of education. To date, 22,093 reformed DfE funded NPQ courses have been declared as started since September 2022. This figure does not represent the number of unique participants taking a reformed NPQ course, however, as participants are able to take multiple NPQ courses.

The number of reformed DfE funded NPQ courses started in the academic year 2022 to 2023 only includes those for which details were submitted to DfE by lead providers by 24 February 2023. It is expected that the number of confirmed NPQ starts will increase later in the academic year. Lead providers are required to submit details of all participants who have started their NPQ course to receive funding from DfE.

NPQs (2017 suite)

The 2017 suite of NPQs were a national, voluntary suite of qualifications designed to support the professional development of school leaders at all levels. The 2017 NPQ accreditation contracts closed in August 2022 and all activity in relation to the 2017 suite of NPQs has now ended.

In total, 33,399 DfE funded NPQ courses  from the 2017 suite have been started between autumn 2017 and August 2022, and of those 20,476, or 61.3 per cent,  have been recorded as being successfully completed. 

The  2017 suite of NPQs experienced a higher than expected withdrawal rate with the majority of withdrawals seen in the final year of the programme. These withdrawals are largely attributed to the difficulties participants had in being able to complete their assessed school-based projects due to the pandemic. 

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Methodology

Find out how and why we collect, process and publish these statistics.

Management information

Management information describes aggregate information collated and used in the normal course of business to inform operational delivery, policy development or the management of organisational performance. It is usually based on administrative data but can also be a product of survey data. The terms administrative data and management information are sometimes used interchangeably.

Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about ECF and NPQ starts statistics and data:

CPD Analysis and Research Team

Email: CPD.STATISTICS@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Gary Smith

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