Academic year 2024/25

Teacher and leader development: ECF and NPQs

Data guidance

Published

Description

This document describes the data included in the 'Teacher and Leader development: ECF and NPQs' release’s underlying data files. This data is released under the terms of the Open Government License and is intended to meet at least 3 stars for Open Data.

The methodology document should be referenced alongside this data. It provides information on the data sources, their coverage and quality as well as explaining methodology used in producing the data.

Coverage

This release contains information on early career teachers (ECTs) and mentors participating in the Early Career Framework (ECF) induction programme and other teachers and leaders who were taking a national professional qualification (NPQ) from the reformed suite of NPQs from the academic year 2021/22 to 2024/25. This release covers:

- the types of schools and locations in which early career teachers started their inductions and other teachers were taking an NPQ;
- the individual-level characteristics of early career teachers who started their induction and other teachers who were taking an NPQ.

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). 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.

The underlying data files include national, regional, local authority, individual level and school level information for early career teachers and mentors participating in the ECF-based induction and other teachers and leaders who were taking an NPQ in England.

Data files

All data files associated with this releases are listed below with guidance on their content. To download any of these files, please visit our data catalogue.

ECF participants 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_ecf_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The number of total and SWC-matched ECTs participating in ECF-based induction broken down by programme type (provider-led and school-led), region, local authority, school phase, school type, sex, ethnicity, age group and working pattern.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
breakdown_percent_ectCharacteristic percentage
breakdown_percent_swfc_ectSWC matched characterisitc percentage
count_swfc_ectsSWC matched early career teachers
cumulative_ectsCumulative early career teachers
group_nameGroup Name
programmeProgram Type
programme_percent_ectProgramme type percentage
programme_percent_swfc_ectSWC matched programme type percentage
total_ects_countEarly career teachers
Footnotes
  1. Early career teacher (ECTs) refers to those who started an ECF-based induction.
  2. The 'Other' category includes all-through schools covering nursery, primary, and secondary levels.
  3. The ‘Other types’ category includes city technology colleges, further education establishments, sixth form centres, special post-16 institutions and universities. It also includes non-maintained special schools and some independent special schools eligible for funding under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014. 
  4. Percentages are based only on known characteristics; unknowns are excluded from the calculations.
  5. 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.

ECF new mentors trained 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_ecf_mentor_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The number of new mentors trained who support ECF participants during their provider-led ECF induction programme, broken down by age, ethnicity, sex, experience, grade and working pattern.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
breakdown_percent_mentorPercentage of mentors trained
group_nameGroup Name
total_mentors_trained_count_provider_ledMentors trained
Footnotes
  1. Percentages are based only on known characteristics; unknowns are excluded from the calculations.

ECF retention 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_ecf_retention_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2023/24
Content
ECTs participating in ECF-based induction who were retained in the SWC after one year, two years and three years, broken down by program type, region, school phase, school type, age group, sex, ethnicity, grade and working pattern.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
count_one_year_retentionECTs retained after one year
count_swfc_ectsECTs starting induction
count_three_year_retentionECTs retained after three years
count_two_year_retentionECTs retained after two years
group_nameGroup Name
percent_one_year_retentionPercentage of ECTs retained after one year
percent_three_year_retentionPercentage of ECTs retained after three years
percent_two_year_retentionPercentage of ECTs retained after two years
programmeInduction Programme Type
Footnotes
  1. Early career teacher (ECTs) refers to those who started an ECF-based induction.
  2. The 'Other' category includes all-through schools covering nursery, primary, and secondary levels.
  3. The appearance of 'u' in the table indicates observation of low reliability due to certain subgroups of population having fewer than 30 individuals 

ECF workforce coverage 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_ecf_workforce_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The number of ECF participants, total number of teachers in the workforce, and percentage of teachers in the workforce each year who have participated or are participating in ECF-based induction training, broken down by programme type.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
number_teachersTeachers in the SWC
number_teachers_ecfECF participants
percent_teachers_ecfPercentage of teaching workforce
programmeGroup Name
Footnotes
  1. Early career teacher (ECTs) refers to those who started an ECF-based induction.

NPQ participants 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_npq_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
Local authority; National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The number NPQ starts and unique participants, the total teaching workforce and the percentage of the teaching workforce undertaking a NPQ, broken down by funding, course type and individual and school characteristics.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
fundingFunding
group_nameGroup Name
npq_startsNPQ starts
npq_unique_participantsUnique NPQ participants
npq_unique_participants_swc_eligibleUnique NPQ participants SWC matched
percent_workforce_npq_participationPercentage of teaching workforce
teaching_workforce_headcount_swcTeaching workforce
Footnotes
  1. The 'Other' category includes all-through schools covering nursery, primary, and secondary levels.
  2. The ‘Other types’ category includes city technology colleges, further education establishments, sixth form centres, special post-16 institutions and universities. It also includes non-maintained special schools and some independent special schools eligible for funding under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014. 
  3. Some independent special schools are eligible for NPQ funding under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014. These schools are included in the 'special schools' category.
  4. Percentages are based only on known characteristics; unknowns are excluded from the calculations.
  5. NPQ funded and non-funded participants are calculated independently and may not sum to the total participants figure due to a small number of individuals who started both funded and non-funded NPQs in the same year.

NPQ completions 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_npq_completion_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
National; Regional
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The number of NPQ starts, completions, passes, the completion rate and the pass rate broken down by funding, course type, region, local authority, school phase, school type, age group, gender, ethnicity, grade and working hours.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
fundingFunding
group_nameGroup Name
npq_completedNPQ completions
npq_passedNPQ passes
npq_startsNPQ starts
percentage_completion_rateCompletion rate
percentage_pass_ratePass rate
Footnotes
  1. The completion rate is the percentage of starts that have completed; NPQs can take up to 22 months to complete so the reporting is lagged by two years. 
  2. The pass rate is the percentage of completions where the participant has passed.
  3. The appearance of 'u' in the table indicates observation of low reliability due to certain subgroups of population having fewer than 30 individuals 

NPQ school coverage 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_npq_school_participation_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The total number of publicly funded schools and the number and percentage of schools who have had an employee who started a NPQ, broken down by funding, school type and phase.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
cum_discCumulative/ Discrete
funded_npq_schoolsSchools with funded starts
group_nameGroup Name
non_funded_npq_schoolsSchools with non-funded starts
npq_schoolsSchools with any starts
perc_funded_npq_schoolsPercentage of schools with funded starts
perc_non_funded_npq_schoolsPercentage of schools with non-funded starts
perc_npq_schoolsPercentage of schools with any starts
total_schoolsTotal schools
Footnotes
  1. Schools are based on the number of publicly funded schools and 16 to 19 educational organisations in England and are ‘open’ or ‘open, but proposed to close’ in each academic year.

NPQ workforce 2024-25

Filename
teacher_leader_development_npq_workforce_2024_25.csv
Geographic levels
National
Time period
2021/22 to 2024/25
Content
The number of NPQ participants, number of teachers in the workforce, and the percentage of teachers in the workforce each year who have started a reformed NPQ since 2021, broken down by funding.
Variable names and descriptions

Variable names and descriptions for this file are provided below:

Variable nameVariable description
fundingGroup Name
npq_participantsNPQ participants
percentagePercentage of teaching workforce
total_teachersTeachers in the SWC