To access the Ambition or Education Development Trust’s ECT and mentor programmes and the Five Counties Appropriate Body service, there are three steps schools need to undertake to register their Early Career Teachers, Induction Tutors and Mentors.
There are two parts to registering for induction: with the DfE to register for Early Career Teacher Programmes (step 2) and with an Appropriate Body (step 3)
This includes their full legal name (not abbreviated), school email address (not a personal one), Teacher Reference Number (TRN), date of birth, details of where and when they completed their training, start date, and contract type (e.g. full-time or part-time). You will also need your school’s Unique Reference Number (URN).
For full induction (provider-led) programmes delivered by us, the lead provider is usually Ambition Institute or Education Development Trust. In most cases, the delivery partner and Appropriate Body will be the Five Counties Teaching School Hub.
A checklist is available to help you with this, which you can download here
Independent schools: Depending on your funding arrangements, you may not need to register via the DfE Sign-in service in Step 2.
Please read the information about fees and complete our form. We will be in touch with some next steps. You will still need to register your ECT with the appropriate body
Register ECTs and mentors through the DfE Sign-in service by selecting the Register Early Career Teacher (RECT) service.
If an ECT is starting their induction in the 2026–2027 academic year (including Autumn 2026 starters and those who start after this), register them under the 2026–2027 cohort.
If an ECT has already begun their induction at another school in a previous academic year (e.g. 2025–2026), they should be registered under the original cohort year in which they started.
For supporting videos to show you how to register, please use this link
Registering your ECT with an appropriate body is a legal requirement and is separate to the ECT CPD programmes like those offered through Ambition or EDT. There is a charge for this service, whereas the support through the Early Career Framework is free of charge for state funded schools and settings.
Please register your ECTs and mentors with the online system ECT Manager, choosing either Bristol, North Somerset and Somerset, or South Glos and BANEs, depending on where your school is. New ECTs will need QTS confirmed before registering. If you are using ECT manager for the first time and your school is not yet listed, just let us know by email and we can add your school to the system: AB@fivecountiesalliance.co.uk
Appropriate Body Services ECT Manager