I passed my PGCE in French and Spanish in July 2000 but had to go back to France for personal reasons. Is there a time limit to start my induction year? If so, how many years do I have left?

No, there is no time limit between getting qualified teacher status (which you would have got with your PGCE, unless your qualification was in further education) and starting induction. The pound;4,000 golden hello has a time limit of five years but that was only for people who finished their PGCEs in modern foreign languages after June 2001, so you missed that. You can start your induction in England whenever you return, but I should do it sooner rather than later as things change so quickly. For instance, you’ll need to know about the key stage 3 strategy, and to be up to date with changes in the teaching of modern languages. The DfES website offers useful information and links to other relevant sites. Come back soon - we’re desperate for languages teachers.

I’m teaching BTec National and GNVQ courses in an FE college. I know I don’t need to do induction in an FE college, but is it possible to do so as I am receiving mentoring anyway - just in case I wished to teach in a school in the future?

I’m glad you’re being mentored in your college. It will move you on professionally and should make your first year easier. But I’m afraid you can’t do England’s statutory induction in an FEcollege. It must be done in a school, and is optional in a sixth-form college. If you want to work in a school you’ll have to undergo the three-term induction period and pass the QTS and induction standards there.

If I were you, I’d think about doing this soon, as the support and monitoring will be useful to you at the start of your career and will widen your employment options. You can only undergo statutory induction if you have qualified teacher status. Did you get it with your PGCE? If you have a qualification in post-compulsory education, you probably won’t have QTS and will have to get on the train-while-you-work graduate teacher programme to do so. This can take one, two or three terms, depending on how close you are to meeting the QTS standards when you apply. It would be useful to keep evidence from your FE experience, such as examples of planning and assessment and feedback from any observations of your teaching.

Are you a student or NQT? Email your questions to: susan.young@newsint.co.uk. Sara Bubb’s A Newly Qualified Teacher’s Manual:how to meet the induction standards is published by David Fulton, pound;5