Appropriate Body

Our appropriate body offer

Our Early Career and Appropriate Body team are committed to providing high-quality, timely support and advice to schools, and Early Career Teachers, throughout the induction journey. We pride ourselves in developing positive working relationships with our partners, ensuring colleagues are effectively supported to confidently implement the new statutory guidance within their settings.

To register with our Appropriate Body, please complete the short form here.

Changes to Statutory Induction

From September 2021, Appropriate Bodies will have the following core functions to ensure schools provide sufficient support to teachers at the start of their careers. Whilst Appropriate bodies will be able to support schools and teachers in a variety of ways there are two key roles that we will fulfil: 

Monitoring of support:

• Appropriate bodies will check that early career teachers are receiving their statutory entitlements, and that regard is had to the statutory guidance.
• Provide ECF fidelity checks, ensuring schools are supported to provide ECTs with an ECF-based induction.*

Monitoring of assessment:

• Appropriate bodies will make the final decision as to whether the ECT has satisfactorily met the Teachers’ Standards, based on the headteacher’s recommendation. 

Update: June 2024

The DfE have published the following Briefing Pack (in download section below) to provide information to schools about what is changing with local AB services and any choices school leaders and induction tutors may need to make about how they access AB services ahead of September 2024 to support the induction of ECTs.  The following summary provides an overview of the key changes, and more a more comprehensive explanation can be found within briefing pack itself:

• From September 2024 local authorities (LAs) will cease operating as ABs, with Teaching School Hubs (TSHs) becoming the main provider of AB services. 
• Schools who access AB services through a LA will need to ensure that all ECTs are registered with an alternative AB by 1 September 2024. 
• Schools who currently access AB services through an LA will need to ensure that any ECTs who do not complete their induction by September 2024 are transferred to a TSH AB by 1 September 2024 (or a specialist AB for independent/overseas schools if applicable).
• Schools are advised to make registration arrangements with their new AB at the earliest opportunity to ensure all ECTs have an AB in place in time for 1 September 2024.