What is an NQT?

Induction is the bridge between initial teacher training and a career in teaching. During the induction period, NQTs build on their initial teacher training to show that they’re able to meet expected teaching standards over a long period of time.

NQTs can do their induction in any maintained school, independent schools including free schools, academies and nursery schools, and certain independent schools overseas. They can’t do induction in a school that has an Ofsted special measures judgement.

Only teachers who have completed their induction programme are allowed to go on to practise in maintained schools, although NQTs who intend to work solely in independent schools, including academies and free schools, don’t have to go through induction.

An NQT’s induction usually lasts three terms, so one full academic year. If the NQT works part-time, they still have to do the same number of induction hours, so their induction will take longer; an NQT who works 2.5 days a week, for example, will take two school years to complete the process. NQTs are advised to begin their induction as soon as possible after gaining QTS, although there’s no official time limit.

One of the main purposes of induction is to give NQTs the experience of working as a teacher, and the opportunity to prove that they’re up to scratch. This means that their day-to-day job is likely to be similar to that of other, more experienced teachers. They should teach the same class regularly, and are required to do the same sort of planning, teaching and assessment as other teachers.

NQTs do, however, have a slightly reduced teaching timetable – 90 per cent of other teachers’ – to leave them time to do other compulsory induction activities. They shouldn’t be asked to deal with unusually demanding discipline situations, and nor should they be given additional non-teaching responsibilities (for example, responsibility for music, PE or another subject) unless they have support from other staff.

Teaching is a big responsibility, so there are strict measures in place for monitoring, observing and supporting NQTs. Every NQT has an induction tutor: a member of staff within the school who provides day-to-day monitoring and support and coordinates their assessment.

During induction, NQTs are supervised in a variety of different ways:

• Observation: this should happen at regular intervals, and each observation should be followed up with a discussion between the observer and the NQT.
• Professional progress assessments: the induction tutor reviews the NQT’s progress regularly and comes up with new objectives and steps to achieve them.
• Formal assessment: there must be three of these each year, usually at the end of each term. After the final assessment, the headteacher will make a recommendation as to whether the NQT has met the required standards.

NQTs only get one shot at induction. If, at the end of the programme, the headteacher considers their performance unsatisfactory, the NQT will not be allowed to practise as a teacher in any maintained school, and will be dismissed from their current post within 10 days, unless they lodge an appeal.

If you have issues with your child’s NQT, first, see if you can resolve the problem as you would with any other teacher – by speaking to them sirectly about your concerns. If the issue isn’t resolved, you can take it up with the headteacher, following the school’s complaints procedure. But don’t be too hasty to judge: ‘I feared the worst having had a bad NQT experience before, but Emma’s second NQT was so good, and the result was that she started to thrive and was happy at school for the first time ever,’ says Andrea. ‘That teacher’s influence will stay with me forever,’