Frequently Asked Questions

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ECTs teaching outside the age range/subjects employed to teach

Can an ECT be asked to teach outside of their specialist subject or age range?

You should not normally demand teaching outside the age range and/or subject(s) for which the ECT has been employed to teach. If for specific reasons your ECT needs to teach in the age range or subject in which they have not been trained and do not have the necessary subject knowledge, assessment against the teacher standards should only be based on the teaching of their specialist subject or age range.

Can ECTs take on additional responsibilities?

Although this would not be recommended, circumstances may require schools to ask ECTs to take on such roles (eg small schools; staffing changes).

But, the new statutory arrangements state that ECTs should only take on additional roles of this nature if appropriate additional support is provided by the school.

Later on in the year, many ECTs may be ready to extend their skills and influence more widely across the school, and to take on a co-ordinating role may well be appropriate (perhaps shared with a colleague in the early stages).