Appropriate Body (AB) services for ECTs – what you need to know about the changes.

Due to changes to Appropriate Body Services introduced by the DfE, from September 2023 new ECTs will no longer be able to be registered with Local Authorities, such as Integra through South Glos, Somerset LA, Bristol LA, or with the NTA, the National Teacher Accreditation.

Instead, all ECTs will need to be registered with AB Services through a teaching school hub, like the Five Counties Teaching School Hubs Alliance.  Our AB team and our partners have been working closely together to ensure there is a smooth transition while these changes embed.

• Any new ECTs starting from September 2023 will need to be registered with a teaching school hub, such as the Five Counties Teaching School Hubs Alliance’s AB service.
• Any ECTs who will be moving into their second year and have previously been registered with the NTA, South Glos / Integra, or other local authority ABs can continue with their AB services through existing providers until July 2024.
• * NEW* Due to a recent changes, schools with ECTs moving into their second year who have been using Bristol Local Authority’s AB service will need to register all ECTs with the Five Counties AB service to complete their induction: further information will be provided to you in due course.
• Any ECTs who are already registered with the Five Counties AB service – there will be no change to current services.

Registering your ECT with an Appropriate Body (AB) is a legal requirement and is separate to the ECT CPD programmes, such as those that we offer through Ambition or EDT. The AB service acts in a quality assurance and support function: ensuring the support your ECT is receiving is checked periodically; ongoing registration and updates are sent to the DfE’s Teacher Regulation Agency; your ECT’s progress reviews and the two annual reports against the Teachers’ Standards at the end of the first and second year are collated and reviewed.

To register and sign up your ECT in all the right places, please follow our 1,2,3 for registration.

To sign up your ECTs and mentors to our AB service with the online system ECT Manager, choose either Bristol / North Somerset / Somerset, or South Glos / BANES, depending on where your school is.

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: [email protected]

The AB service also supports schools where intervention is needed, for example when an ECT is not progressing towards meeting the Teachers’ Standards. The CPD programmes delivered by the Five Counties are your ECT’s entitlement to professional development, whereas the AB service is statutory and separate.

For further information about our AB service, please look at our website page.

If you have any questions, do contact the team here via email at [email protected] so we can help and advise on next steps.