Early Career Training - FAQ

The DfE funds the ECT programme for all state-funded schools and any independent schools that receive section 41 funding. You can check if your school receives section 41 funding on the ‘Get Information about Schools’ government webpage here.

You can find further information about eligibility here.

How long does it take to go from DfE registration to being set up on Steplab?

Unfortunately, the answer is ‘it depends’...but once registrations are validated by the DfE they come through to us on an hourly basis and we then send out a welcome email immediately. If you can't see your ECT/mentor on Steplab, the first thing to ask them is, ‘have you completed your Steplab access form on MyECT?’. If they are having trouble accessing their MyECT account or finding the Steplab access form, they should contact our ECT Support Team.

On the DfE’s manage training for early career teachers service it says ‘waiting for induction to be recorded’ - is this something I need to action?

If you haven’t already, you need to inform your Appropriate Body that you have ECTs joining your school. If you have done this, there is nothing else you need to do. This will not stop registrations being received by us.

How does the registration process differ for schools that are not eligible for funding?

It is the responsibility of the school’s induction tutor to initiate the registration process for ECTs and mentors. This is the person within a school responsible for overseeing and leading on the Early Career Training programme.

To do this, they must reach out to a local delivery partner to establish a partnership for the academic year. If your school is an independent school that does not receive section 41 funding, ECTs and mentors should not be registered with the DfE. Instead, your delivery partner should register ECTs and mentors. Then, the registrations will pull through to our system.

How do I access MyECT if I already have access to My Ambition / My Teacher Training?

If you already have an account with us for My Ambition or My Teacher Training, you can access MyECT here using the same username and password.

If you experience any issues logging in or can’t see your Steplab access form, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

If you are also working on another programme with Ambition Institute, please continue to use My Ambition for your programme activities. All Initial Teacher Training activities will still take place on My Teacher Training.

My ECTs/Mentors haven’t received any emails from Ambition Institute.

If you (the induction tutor) have successfully registered them on the DfE‘s manage training for early career teachers service then it might be that our emails have gone into their junk folder. If they are using a school email address and trying to access the emails at work, we advise that you ask your IT team to add our email addresses to their safe senders list; @salesforce.com // @ambition.org.uk // @steplab.co // @steplab.co.uk. Otherwise, please contact the ECT Support Team.

I need to change my ECT/Mentor’s details.

If you need to update the name or email address of an ECT or mentor, you will need to do this on the DfE’s manage training for early career teachers service. If you are changing roles and will no longer be the induction tutor, you will need to update this on the DfE service. Please keep your Delivery Partner informed of induction tutor changes and any participant withdrawals.

Do induction tutors need to onboard?

Yes. All participants, no matter their role, need to complete the Steplab access form to gain access to Steplab.

How do I match my mentors and ECTs on Steplab?

Mentor pairing is done on the DfE’s manage training for early career teachers service. Once ECTs and new mentors are registered you can match them on the DfE service (you can also match ECTs with existing mentors).

Once we receive the ECT and mentor pairing information from the DfE, this will feed through to Steplab and should mean that this matching has already taken place for you.

If you have replaced an ECTs existing mentor with a new mentor on the DfE service – please note that replacement mentor information comes through to us from the DfE overnight, so it may take another 24 hours for the new mentor to gain access to (and be visible in) their ECTs cohort on Steplab.

You will be able to ensure the ECT and mentor are matched on Steplab by going to the ‘Manage’ tab and selecting ‘Manage coaching relationships’.

Please note, you won’t see your ECTs or mentors on Steplab until they have accessed their MyECT account and completed their Steplab access form.

I can’t see my ECT/Mentors on Steplab.

If you (the induction tutor) have successfully registered your staff on the DfE’s manage training for early career teachers service, then they might not have accessed their MyECT account and/or completed their Steplab access form yet. If both of these steps are complete and you still can’t see them, please contact the ECT Support Team.

I have an ECT/Mentor transferring in/out of my school, what do I do?

For Transfers OUT of your school - Log in to the DfE’s manage training for early career teachers service and report on there that your ECT/mentor is leaving your school. This will generate a Transfer Out notification to the DfE and your Lead Provider. Please also contact your delivery partner to let them know.

For Transfers IN to your school - Log in to the DfE’s manage training for early career teachers service and register your new ECT/mentor as a transfer from their previous school. This will generate a Transfer In notification to the DfE and your Lead Provider.