Astra TSH works in partnership with Best Practice Network to deliver the DfE-funded Early Career Framework (ECF) programme for Early Career Teachers (ECTs) in Buckinghamshire.
For ECTs and Mentors who have been registered for the ECF programme prior to September 2025 and are currently on this programme, this will continue with BPN until your programme is complete.
If you have any questions please email the Best Practice Network ECF participant support team at ecf@bestpracticenet.co.uk who will be happy to help. Likewise, you can contact Amanda Timmington (atimmington@astra-alliance.com) or Jules Montgomery-McCullagh (jules@astra-alliance.com) at Astra for further information.
From September 2021, the government is funding an entitlement for all ECTs in England to access high-quality professional development at the start of their career with a view to greater teacher support and retention. New teachers will now receive developmental support and training over 2 years as part of their statutory induction, underpinned by the DfE’s Early Career Framework reforms. The ECF covers training on behaviour management, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and professional behaviours.
For schools choosing a DfE-funded ECF programme (such as with Best Practice Network), it is freely available for all maintained schools and academies in England. As well as full access to the programme (which covers all training and delivery costs), schools will also receive an additional backfill payment to cover the cost of release-time for the Mentor training (36 hours over the 2 years).
Schools choosing to deliver or design their own ECF-based programme will not receive any additional funding from the DfE as outlined above. All costs associated with delivering and training will need to be funded by the school. The school will also be charged by their Approrpiate Body to conduct a fidelity check on the school's ECF programme at the start of induction which is required by the DfE.
1. Access the DfE online service to input your ECT and mentor details https://manage-training-for-early-career-teachers.education.gov.uk/ and select Best Practice Network as your Lead Provider and Astra Teaching School Hub as the Delivery Partner. Best Practice Network will then get in touch with your ECT and Mentor to get them registered on the programme. Upon completion of the registration form the ECT and Mentor will be sent a welcome pack which includes preparatory information about the ECF programme, a handbook and information about their Induction Conference.
Schools do not need to re-register ECTs and ECMs moving into the second year of their ECF programme (unless they are transferring from another school, in these instances register them for the correct academic year they started their ECF training).
If you have any problems in accessing the service please email continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk Step by step guidance on how to use the service can be found here.
2. If your school has not used Best Practice Network before, or you are changing Lead Provider to Best Practice Network, your school will need to register with Best Practice Network as well https://ccms.bpnsystems.net/ecf_application/
Schools already working with Best Practice Network do not need to re-register with BPN.
The Best Practice Network Schools Dashboard is a user-friendly way for Headteachers and Induction Tutors to find and view key information about their ECTs and mentors during the programme. Key benefits include:
- Monitor ECT/mentor registrations and information
- ECT/mentor programme schedules to support with engagement, workload planning and staff cover
- Access the latest newsletters, policies and guidance
- Monitor ECT/mentor progress and attendance
Induction Tutors are also granted access to the BPN Virtual Learning Environment (Canvas) which provides a detailed and interactive view of the programme. Further information on Canvas can be found here https://www.bestpracticenet.co.uk/news/virtual-learning-environment-explained
To find out more about the Schools Dashboard please visit https://www.bestpracticenet.co.uk/news/our-ecf-dashboards-explained
Best Practice Network has published a document linked here regarding how they are making the ECF accessible to those ECTs not following the standard 2-year induction (part-time ECTs, reduced induction, ECTs transferring schools and ECTs starting induction part way through the academic year).
Any changes during the programme need to be recorded via the DfE online service. These could include:
- Mentor replacement
- ECT or Mentor withdrawal
- Change of Induction Tutor
- New ECT joining part way through the year
- ECT moving to another school
- ECT Changing Leader Provider
The DfE online service will give advice on whether Best Practice Network also needs to be updated by the school or whether this will be done on behalf of the school by the DfE.
Please remember that your Appropriate Body will also need to be updated on any of the above changes as well!
