Academic year 2024/25

Teacher and leader development: ECF and NPQs

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• Published: 10 July 2025
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• Produced by: Department for Education

This release provides information on the number of early career teachers (ECTs) participating in the early career framework (ECF) and the number of teachers and leaders participating in reformed national professional qualifications (NPQs). The numbers for previous academic years are revised with each new statistics release to reflect ongoing changes to records on the administrative systems. The latest release should always be used for previous academic years as well as the latest.

For ECF, we report on the numbers of ECTs participating in the provider-led and school-led ECF-based induction and their retention rates. Retention figures focus on three ECF cohorts: 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24. We compare the number of ECTs appearing in the school workforce census with those retained in later census years. 

For NPQs, this year's release includes breakdowns of those eligible for scholarship funding and those not eligible for scholarship funding, referred to as funded and non-funded. Figures showing the number of schools that employed a teacher who started an NPQ are also included. 

NPQ outcome figures show the number and percentage of NPQs started between 2021 and 2023 that have completed and, of those that complete, the number and percentage that have passed.

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 School Workforce Census (SWC) and Get Information about Schools (GIAS) (opens in a new tab). The SWC collects information from schools and local authorities on the school workforce in state-funded schools in England, and GIAS is the department's register of educational establishments in England and Wales. 

Official Statistics Under Development are newly developed or innovative official statistics that are undergoing evaluation. They are published to involve users and stakeholders in the assessment of their suitability and quality at an early stage. This publication is labelled as ‘Official Statistics Under Development’ because it is a relatively new statistical product that we continue to develop as new data from the ECF and NPQ programmes becomes available.

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Releases in this series

View releases (3)

• Academic year 2023/24
• Academic year 2022/23
• Academic year 2021/22

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• Teacher and leader development: ECF and NPQs

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Headline facts and figures - 2024/25

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ECF-based induction

This section provides information on the number and percentage of early career teachers who participated in the provider-led and school-led ECF-based induction since the national rollout of ECF in September 2021.

Schools can choose how they want to deliver ECF-based induction. They can use a provider-led approach whereby a DfE funded training provider and a delivery partner provide ECF-based training directly to ECTs and train mentors to support ECTs. The training programmes designed by these lead providers are accredited by DfE and quality assured by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (opens in a new tab). Alternatively, schools can use freely available DfE accredited materials to deliver their own induction programme or design and deliver their own induction programme based on the ECF (school-led approach).

Over the past four academic years, there has been a decline in the number of ECTs starting ECF-based induction, reducing to 22,536 in the latest year from 28,887 in 2021/22.  Since 2021/22 a total of 104,277 ECTs have started ECF-based induction, the share of ECTs who started a provider-led ECF-based induction has remained stable over this period, remaining between 94.3% and 95.1%. 

ECF teaching workforce coverage

In 2024/25, 80,910 teachers in the school workforce census (SWC) had started or completed an ECF-based induction, representing 15.8% of the state school teaching workforce. This includes 77,342 provider-led inductions (15.1% of teachers) and 3,568 school-led inductions (0.7% of teachers).

ECF: participant characteristics

This section includes ECT volumes broken down by personal characteristics. The focus here is on ECTs; mentors who were trained for provider-led induction are covered in the ECF mentors section below.

Inclusion in the ‘Unknown’ category may indicate that either the teacher could not be matched in the SWC, or that the information is missing in the SWC. 

Percentages are based only on known characteristics; unknowns are excluded from the calculations. The 2024/25 characteristic volumes and percentages are provisional. These will be updated next year to include additional characteristics for ECTs who are missing from the current 2024 SWC but appear in next year’s SWC. This will reduce the number of unknowns. 

Working pattern

In the academic year 2024/25, 94.4% of ECTs starting an ECF-based induction were full-time teachers (17,608), while 5.6% worked part-time (1,037). The percentage of ECTs working full time has remained stable since 2021/22, moving between 94.8% and 94.4%. The full-time percentage was similar for both provider-led and school-led ECTs.

Age

In the academic year 2024/25, of those who started an ECF-based induction, the largest group were under 25s (43.5%), followed by those aged 25 to 29 (27.2%). The smallest groups were those aged 50 to 59 (2.9%) and those 60 and over (0.2%). This age distribution has remained stable over the past 4 years.

Provider-led induction participants have a similar age profile to school-led participants. 

Sex

In academic year 2024/25, 75.6% of ECTs were female and 24.4% were male. For provider-led induction, 75.9% of ECTs were female, while for school-led 70.8% were female. Since 2021/22, ECTs starting a provider-led induction have been more likely to be female than those starting a school-led induction.

Ethnicity

In academic year 2024/25, teachers identifying as White were the largest group of ECTs (78.8%), followed by teachers identifying as Asian or Asian British (11.1%).

ECTs starting a school-led induction are more likely to identify as belonging to ethnic minority groups than those starting a provider-led induction. In 2024/25:

• 64.9% of school-led ECTs identified as White compared with 79.7 % of provider-led ECTs.
• 20.2% of school-led ECTs identified as Asian or Asian British compared with 10.5 % of provider-led ECTs.
• 7.5% of school-led ECTs identified Black or Black British compared with 4.6 % of provider-led ECTs.

ECF: school characteristics

This section breaks down ECTs by the characteristics of their schools. A further breakdown by school phase and type combined is included in the underlying files. 

The ‘Unknown’ category indicates that the school could not be matched in Get Information About Schools. Percentages are based only on known characteristics; unknowns are excluded from the calculations. 

Region

London and the South East had the largest share of ECTs starting ECF-based induction in 2024/25, at 18.7% and 15.7% respectively. The North East had the smallest share of ECTs (4.1%). 

The percentage of ECTs who started the provider-led induction was highest in the East Midlands (98.1%) and lowest in London (88.6%). London had the highest percentage of ECTs who started the school-led induction (9.6%).  

School type

In  2024/25, the largest share of ECTs were based at academies (62.6%), followed by local authority-maintained (28.5%). 

The percentage of ECTs who started the provider-led ECF-based induction was similar across school types, ranging from 93.5% in free schools and 94.4% in academies to 94.8% in special schools 

School phase

In 2024/25, a higher share of ECTs were in secondary schools (50.3%) compared to primary schools (44.7%). 

The percentage of ECTs participating in the provider-led induction was lower in secondary schools (92.5%) than in primary schools (96.4%). 

ECF: mentors

This section includes statistics on mentors trained for the provider-led ECF-based induction. The statistics were calculated by including all mentors who are recorded in the Teacher CPD Service dataset as having started mentor training. The figures include mentors replacing other mentors who withdrew from the provider-led ECF-based induction programme. 

In 2024/25, 15,593 mentors were trained for the provider-led ECF-based induction to support ECTs during their induction programme.  Since 2021/22, there has been a decline in the number of new mentors trained, reflecting the decline in the number ECTs and the fact that schools can re-use mentors who have previously received training. 

ECF: mentors characteristics

This section includes mentors broken down by personal characteristics. Inclusion in the ‘Unknown’ category may indicate that either the teacher could not be matched in the SWC, or that the information is missing in the SWC. Percentages are based only on known characteristics; unknowns are excluded from the calculations. 

Age

In 2024/25, 30 to 39 was the the largest age group, including 40.6% of mentors, followed by the 40 to 49 group with 29.1%. The smallest groups were those aged 60 and over (1.2%) and under 25 (0.7%). The age distribution of mentors has been similar each year since 2021/22.

Ethnicity 

In 2024/25, of mentors where ethnicity was known, 88.5% identified as White, 5.9% identified as Asian or Asian British, and 2.8% identified as Black or Black British.

The percentage of mentors trained who identified as White has declined each year from 90.3% in 2021/22 to 88.5% in 2024/25.

Sex

In 2024/25, 75.4% of mentors trained were female and 24.6% were male. The share of mentors trained who are female has remained stable since 2021/22.

Experience

In 2024/25, the largest group of mentors trained had 10 to 19 years of experience (39.7%). This was followed by those with 5 to 9 years (27.1%), and 20 to 29 years (19.1%). The under 5 years group included 9.7% , while the smallest group was those with 30 or more years of experience (4.4%).

The experience profile of mentors trained has been similar each year since 2021/22, with a small increase in the share of mentors with 20-29 and 30 and over years of experience, and a small decrease in mentors with fewer than 20 years of experience. 

Grade

In 2024/25, the majority mentors trained were classroom teachers, accounting for 83.6%. This was followed by assistant headteachers (9.3%).

The percentage of mentors trained who are classroom teachers has increased slightly from 80.4% in 2021/22.

Working pattern

In 2024/25, 81.7% of mentors trained were working full time. Part-time mentors accounted for 18.3%. The share of part-time mentors trained has increased each year from 15.3% in 2021/22.

ECF: teacher retention

This section provides information on the retention of ECTs participating in the ECF who work in state schools in England and appear in the SWC. It focuses on three cohorts: 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24. 

The tables in the following sections focus on the two-year ECF induction period for each cohort, they present: 

• ECTs from the 2021/22 cohort that remained in the 2022 census (1-year retention) and 2023 census (2-year retention).
• ECTs from the 2022/23 cohort that remained in the 2023 census (1-year retention) and 2024 census (2-year retention).
• ECTs from the 2023/24 cohort that remained in the 2024 census (1-year retention).

3-year retention is available for the 2021/22 cohort in the underlying data files.

2021/22 cohort

In 2021/22, 21,726 ECTs matched to the 2021 SWC started ECF-based induction. Of these, 87.7% were retained in the following year, and 79.3% were retained in 2023. 

There were 20,687 provider-led ECTs and 1,039 school-led ECTs. Retention was higher for provider-led ECTs in comparison to school-led:

• 87.7% of provider-led ECTs were retained after one year and 79.5% were retained after two years
• 86.8% of school-led ECTs were retained after one year and 76.0% were retained after two years. 

2022/23 cohort

In 2022/23, 21,229 ECTs matched to the 2022 SWC started ECF-based induction. Of these, 88.9% were retained in the following year and 80.5% were retained in 2024. 

There were 20,220 provider-led ECTs and 1,009 school-led ECTs. Retention was higher for provider-led ECTs in comparison to school-led:

• 89.0% of provider-led ECTs were retained after one year and 80.7% were retained after two years
• 86.7% of school-led ECTs were retained after one year and 76.9% were retained after two years. 

2023/24 cohort

In 2024/25, the ECT retention rate showed a continued increasing trend. Overall, one-year retention reached 89.7%, the highest on record for an ECF cohort. One-year retention for school-led induction increased to 91.0%, while provider-led one-year retention increased to 89.7%. 

ECF: teacher retention breakdowns

This section provides selected breakdowns of teacher retention, including working pattern, age, gender, ethnicity, school phase and school type. It focuses on provider-led ECTs. School-led retention breakdowns are included in the underlying data.

Working Pattern 

Teacher retention among full-time teachers was higher than part-time teachers across all provider-led ECF cohorts.

• 2021/22 cohort – after one year, retention was 88.0% and 81.1% for full-time and part-time teachers respectively. After two years, retention was 79.7% for full-time teachers compared to 76.5% for part-time.
• 2022/23 cohort – after one year, retention was 89.3% and 81.8% for full-time and part-time teachers respectively. After two years, retention was 81.0% for full-time teachers compared to 73.2% for part-time.
• 2023/24 cohort – one-year retention was 90.0% for full-time teachers and 83.5% for part-time. 

Sex

Female teachers had a higher retention rate than male teachers across all provider-led ECF cohorts. 

• 2021/22 cohort – retention after one year was higher among females (88.4%) than males (85.6%). After two years, retention was 80.5% for females and 76.5% for males.
• 2022/23 cohort – retention after one year was slightly higher for females (89.3%) than males (88.1%). Two-year retention was 81.3% for females and 78.9% for males.
• 2023/24 cohort – retention after one year was higher for females (90.2%) than males (87.9%). Two-year retention figures are not yet available.

Age

Across all provider-led ECF cohorts, one-year retention is highest for teachers in the under 25 age group, increasing from 88.9% for the 2021/22 cohort, to 90.5% for the 2023/24 cohort. Age groups 50-59 and 60 and over have the lowest one-year retention rate.

For two-year retention, the 40-49 age group has the highest rate, increasing from 81.5% for the 2021/22 cohort to 82.5 % for the 2022/23 cohort. The under 25 age group has the second highest retention rate after two years for both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 cohorts.

Ethnicity

For the 2021/22 and 2022/23 provider-led ECF cohorts, ECTs identifying as White had the highest retention rates of 88.4% and 89.6% for one-year retention, and 80.2% and 81.6% for two-year retention.

For the 2023/24 cohort, ECTs identifying as any other Mixed background had the highest one-year retention rate of 90.5%, followed by 90.2% ECTs identifying as White.

School Phase

Primary school teachers had higher retention rates than secondary school teachers for all provider-led ECF cohorts, but the difference was less pronounced for the 2023/24 cohort compared with earlier cohorts.

• 2021/22 cohort –  retention after one year was higher in primary schools (89.1%) than secondary schools (86.3%); retention remained higher for primary schools after two years (81.3%; 77.8% for secondary schools).
• 2022/23 cohort – retention after one year was higher in primary schools (89.4%) than secondary schools (88.4%), a pattern that remained after two years (81.5% and 79.7% respectively).
• 2023/24 cohort – retention after one year was comparable between primary schools (89.7%) and secondary schools (89.5%).

School Type 

Teachers in special schools had the highest one-year and two-year retention rates across all provider-led ECF cohorts, with one-year rates ranging from 93.4% for the 2021/22 cohort to 91.5% for the 2023/24 cohort.

In 2023/24, free schools had the second highest one-year retention rates at 90.6%, followed by local authority-maintained schools (89.8%) and academies (89.4%). 

The underlying data also includes a breakdown by school phase and type combinations.

NPQs

This section provides information on the number of teachers and leaders who undertook an NPQ from the reformed suites of NPQs in the four academic years from 2021/22. 

We provide the number of unique funded and non-funded NPQ participants and the rate of workforce participation in NPQs. The rate of workforce participation is the proportion of teachers in the School Workforce Census who started an NPQ in that academic year.

In 2024/25 eligibility for scholarship funding changed and there were a limited number of funded training places available. Fully funded training places were available for the SENCO, Headship and Leading Primary Mathematics NPQs for eligible institutions. Eligibility for scholarship funding for all other NPQs was targeted towards teachers and leaders in the most disadvantaged schools and 16-19 institutions. This has coincided with a reduction in the number of funded NPQ starts and an increase in the number on non-funded starts compared to previous years.

There was a total of 29,818 NPQ starts in 2024/25, with 29,526 unique participants. This represents 4.5% of the overall teaching workforce. Among the NPQ participants, 23,477 were funded, representing 4.1% of the teaching workforce, while 6,063 were non-funded, accounting for 0.5%. This is a decline compared to the previous year, when participation peaked at 7.1%. 

NPQ workforce coverage

By 2024/25, 19.9% of teachers and leaders in the SWC had participated in an NPQ from the reformed suite over the last four academic years. 19.4% participated in a funded NPQ, while 0.5% participated in a non-funded NPQ.

Course type

In 2024/25, the NPQ for SENCOs was the most frequently started NPQ with 10,537 starts. The NPQ for Senior Leadership was the second most frequently taken NPQ with 5,801 starts.

There were 23,664 funded NPQ starts in 2024/25. The largest number of starts were again in NPQ for SENCOs with 9,725 funded starts, followed by Senior Leadership (3,448) and Headship (3,314). For all courses, there was a decline in funded starts compared to previous years.

There were 6,154 non-funded NPQ starts in 2024/25, a large increase from previous years. The highest numbers were seen in Senior Leadership (2,353), Headship (983), and SENCO (800).

NPQ: participant characteristics

This section provides information on the personal characteristics of teachers and leaders who started a funded NPQ from the reformed suites of NPQs in the academic years from 2021/22 to 2024/25.

Percentage figures are not provided for categories where the relevant data is absent. Inclusion in the ‘Unknown’ category may indicate that either the teacher could not be matched in the SWC, or that the information is missing in the SWC. Funded NPQ participation is the focus of this section as non-funded participants have a much lower match rate to the SWC, leading to a large number of unknowns.

Teacher grade 

In 2024/25, 15,639 classroom teachers participated in funded NPQs, representing 3.6% of the classroom teacher workforce. Leadership roles had lower volumes participating in NPQs, but the volumes represented a larger share of their workforce than was the case for classroom teachers:

• 2,472 NPQ participants were assistant headteachers, representing 7.7% of the workforce.
• 1,604 NPQ participants were deputy headteachers, representing 8.4% of the workforce.
• 1,105 NPQ participants were headteachers, representing 4.9% of the workforce. 

Working pattern

in 2024/25, 17,532 NPQ participants were full-time teachers, representing 4.5% of the full-time workforce, while 3,288 were part-time teachers, accounting for 2.6% of the part-time workforce. Full-time funded NPQ participants continued to make up the majority of participants; participation declined across the full-time and part-time categories compared to previous years.

Age

In 2024/25, teachers and leaders in the 30 to 39 age group followed by the 25 to 29  age group were most likely to start a funded NPQ, (5.2% and 4.5% of teachers and leaders respectively). Compared with previous years, there was a decline in participation across all age groups.

Teachers who were under 25 years old had the third lowest percentage of funded NPQ participants (4.5%), reflecting the fact that NPQs are designed to support professional development for more experienced teachers. 

Sex

In 2024/25, female teachers continued to make up the majority of funded NPQ participants; there were 16,421 females, representing 4.2% of the female teaching workforce. Male participation wast 4,397, accounting for 3.5% of the male workforce.

Ethnicity

In the academic year 2024/25, teachers and leaders who identified as Black or Black British had the highest rate of funded NPQ participation at 4.4%, followed by those identifying as Any Other Mixed background (4.2%) and those identifying as White (4.1%).

Between 2023/24 and 2024/25, funded NPQ participation declined across all ethnic groups.

NPQ: school characteristics

This section provides information on the characteristics of schools whose teachers and leaders were taking an NPQ in the last four academic years from 2021/22. A further breakdown by school phase and type combined is included in the underlying files. 

Percentage figures are not provided for categories where the relevant data is absent. Inclusion in the ‘Unknown’ category indicates that the teacher's school was not provided or could not be matched to Get Information About Schools.

Region

In 2024/25, the North West had the highest number of NPQ participants overall (4,074), followed by London (4,018) and the South East (3,958). The highest participation rate was in Yorkshire and The Humber (5.1%), while the East of England had the lowest (4.0%).

The North West had the largest number of funded NPQ participants (3,617), followed by London (3,469) and the South East (3,205). The highest participation rates were in the North West and Yorkshire and The Humber (both 4.7%), while the South East had the lowest (3.5%).

Breakdowns of NPQs participation by local authority are provided in the underlying data.

School type

In 2024/25, the majority of NPQ participants were based at academies (14,461), followed by local authority-maintained schools (8,417) and special schools (1,436). Special schools had the highest workforce participation rate of 5.6%, Academies and local authority-maintained schools both had a workforce participation rate of 4.5%.

Among funded NPQ participants, most were based at academies (12,955), followed by 7,595 at local authority-maintained schools and 1,225 at special schools. Special schools had the highest participation rate at 5.4%, followed by  free schools (4.8%) and local authority-maintained schools (4.1%).

School phase

In 2024/25, most NPQ participants were based in primary schools (13,771), followed by secondary schools (9,002) and other settings (6,749). Participation rates were higher in primary (5.4%) than secondary (3.4%).

Among funded NPQ participants, primary schools had the highest number (12,555), followed by secondary schools (7,797) and other types (3,121). Primary schools (4.9%) had a higher funded NPQ participation rate than secondary schools (3.0%).

School phase and type combined

The underlying data also includes a breakdown by school phase and type combined.

In 2024/25, primary academies had the highest number of NPQ participants overall (6,775), followed by primary local authority-maintained schools (6,694) and secondary academies (6,806). 

In terms of workforce participation rates, the primary school phase had higher participation rates than secondary schools across all types. For both primary and secondary phases, free schools had the highest participation rates, 6.9% and 4.6% respectively, and local authority-maintained schools had the lowest, 4.9% and 3.1%.

NPQ: outcomes

This section provides information on completions and pass rates for all NPQ courses started in 2021/22 and 2022/23. Further information on NPQ outcomes broken down by individual and school characteristics is included in the underlying data files.

In 2021/22, 29,892 funded NPQ courses were started by teachers and leaders. Of these, 84.3% have been completed to date, with a pass rate of 98.7%. In the same year, 1,785 non-funded NPQ courses were started, with a completion rate of 89.5% and a pass rate of 98.6%. Across all NPQs, 31,677 courses were started, 84.6% completed, and 98.7% of those completions passed.

In 2022/23, 36,620 funded NPQ courses were started, 81.4% have been completed so far, with a pass rate of 96.8%. For non-funded NPQs, 2,286 courses were started, with 87.0% completed and a pass rate of 95.7%. Overall, 38,906 NPQ courses were started that year, with 81.7% completed and a 96.7% pass rate.

The underlying data files include early data on completion and pass rates for courses started in 2023/24. Most of these are still active owing to the length of courses, particularly leadership NPQs (Early Years Leadership; Senior Leadership; Headship; Executive Leadership), which last between 18 and 22 months. 

Course type

In 2021/22, more NPQs were started in the NPQ for Senior Leadership (9,300) and NPQ for Leading Teaching (7,736) compared to other course types. The highest completion rate was seen in NPQ for Headship (89.2%), with the highest pass rate also in NPQ for Headship (99.4%).

In 2022/23, more NPQs were started in the NPQ for Senior Leadership (10,065) and NPQ for Leading Teaching (7,973). The highest completion rate was in NPQ for Leading Literacy (86.3%), and the highest pass rate was in NPQ for Leading Literacy (97.7%).

Funded NPQs

In 2021/22, more funded NPQs were started in NPQ for Senior Leadership (8,534) and NPQ for Leading Teaching (7,451). The highest completion rate was in NPQ for Headship (89.0%), and the highest pass rate was also in NPQ for Headship (99.4%).

In 2022/23, more funded NPQs were started in NPQ for Senior Leadership (9,176) and NPQ for Leading Teaching (7,550). The highest completion rate was in NPQ for Leading Literacy (86.3%), and the highest pass rate was in NPQ for Leading Literacy (97.7%).

NPQ school engagement

This section provides information on the number of state schools employing teachers and leaders who started NPQ courses between 2021/22 and 2024/25. The underlying data files published as part of this statistics release include additional breakdowns by school phase and type.

In 2021/22, a total of 10,919 state schools had at least one employee start an NPQ, representing 47.4% of all schools. Of these, 10,764 schools had employees start a state-funded NPQ (46.8%), while 241 schools had employees start a non-funded NPQ (1.1%).

By 2024/25, the cumulative number of schools reached 20,611, representing 88.4% of all state schools. Of these, 20,452 schools had employees start a state-funded NPQ (87.7%), and 2,440 schools had employees start a non-funded NPQ (10.5%).

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• Teacher and leader development: ECF and NPQs

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