ECF Evaluation Report Published

10 Jun 25

The DfE have shared the final ECF evaluation report as published on 29 May 2025.

Early career framework induction evaluation - GOV.UK

The evaluation followed participants (induction tutors, mentors and ECTs) in the first cohort over the two years of their induction programme, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

The annual summary (Year 3) report summarises the key findings from the third (and final) year of this evaluation, and the summary report summarises the key findings from across the full evaluation.

Highlights of these findings include:

Increased confidence from ECTs as well as increased job satisfaction and motivation – with leaders in schools agreeing that they can identify improvements.
Opinions are improving over time among the sector, and that this highlights how the DfE have listened to concerns and feedback and have taken action, whilst working to protect the quality of the programme, fidelity to the framework and the integrity of the mentor offer.
Early and promising signs of improved teacher retention. Analysis conducted by DfE analysts suggest that cohorts 1 and 2 of the national roll-out of ECF-based induction have higher retention than expected when accounting for key characteristics and wider trends in teacher retention.