A third of school leaders fear the Early Career Framework (ECF), designed to support new teachers, will actually drive people out of the profession, a new survey shows.

The NAHT school leaders union has found serious concerns among its members about the level of workload the framework is creating for both early career teachers and those working as mentors.

Survey findings show that 32 per cent of the union’s members responding to a poll were concerned that the ECF would have a negative impact on recruitment.

Insight: The ECF: what works and what doesn’t

Background: What you need to know about the Early Career Framework

Framework: How to tackle workload issues

And a similar proportion of heads reported that staff who were working as mentors (28 per cent) for early career teachers under the framework wanted to stop doing this role.

More than 1,000 school leaders took part in the poll.

The union’s general secretary Paul Whiteman described the findings, published today, as “enormously concerning.”

Other key findings from the survey include:

• An overwhelming majority (95 per cent) of heads said the ECF had increased workload for a newly qualified teacher, with 64 per cent saying it had significantly increased.
• Almost all respondents (99 per cent) said the ECF has had an overwhelmingly negative impact on the workload of mentors.
• Over eight in ten (81 per cent) said that the workload of mentors had significantly increased.
• Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of respondents said the ECF will have a negative or very negative impact on the work life balance of early career teachers.

Mr Whiteman said: “It’s enormously concerning that schools are finding the additional workload from the ECF so debilitating.

“One of the key aims of this new system is to improve retention of early career teachers. That obviously won’t happen if they are so overwhelmed in their first two years.

“Even more concerning, those who are stepping up to mentor new teachers are also drowning in the resulting workload and considering not continuing in this crucial role.”

Mr Whiteman said the DfE should return the ECF to “its original intention - a programme of support for new teachers, rather than an early career curriculum”.

The union leader also called for a reduction of the workload involved.

He added: “The two-year induction period clearly has great potential to improve professional development for teachers in their early careers, and there is general support for the new system.

But changes must be made to bring the workload and impact on work-life balance under control, or it could end up doing considerable damage to retention rates, even as it tries to improve them.”

But the NAHT did also find significant support for the ECF among its members.

Just over half (55 per cent) of school leaders agreed or strongly agreed with the decision to move to a two-year induction period for early career teachers.

Almost half (49 per cent) feel that the ECF will have a positive or very positive impact on the professional development of ECTs. And 40 per cent think the ECF will deliver a positive impact on the quality of teaching.