The Education (Induction Arrangements for School Teachers) (England) Regulations 1999

Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (Induction Arrangements for School Teachers) (England) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 7th May 1999.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to school teachers in England.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations–

“the 1996 Act” means the Education Act 1996(1);

“the 1998 Act” means the School Standards and Framework Act 1998(2);

“appeal body” means the appeal body under regulation 5;

“appropriate body” means the appropriate body under regulation 4;

“authority” means a local education authority;

“core subject” means a subject referred to in section 354(1) of the 1996 Act;

“foundation subject” means a subject referred to in section 354(1) or (2) of the 1996 Act;

“induction period” means an induction period required by these Regulations;

“key stage” has the same meaning as in section 355(1) of the 1996 Act;

“non-maintained special school” means a special school which is neither a maintained special school, a grant-maintained special school, a community special school nor a foundation special school;

“qualified teacher” has the same meaning as in section 218(2) of the Education Reform Act 1988(3);

“school day” means any day on which at that school there is a school session;

“school session” has the same meaning as in regulation 10 of the Education (Schools and Further Education) Regulations 1981(4);

“special school” has the same meaning as in section 337(1) of the 1996 Act(5);

“supply teacher” means a teacher employed wholly or mainly for the purpose of supervising or teaching pupils whose regular teacher is not available to teach them; and

“working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a day which is a bank holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(6).

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to–

(a) a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule bearing that number in these Regulations;

(b) a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in the regulation or Schedule in which the reference appears; and

(c) a numbered sub-paragraph is a reference to the sub-paragraph bearing that number in the paragraph in which the reference appears.

Breach of time limits

3.  Failure by any person to discharge any duty within a time limit specified in these Regulations shall not relieve him of that duty.

Appropriate body

4.  For the purposes of these Regulations–

(a) the appropriate body in relation to–

(i) a community, foundation or voluntary school, a community or foundation special school, or a maintained nursery school (in each case within the meaning of the 1998 Act), and

(ii) a county, voluntary, maintained nursery, maintained special, grant-maintained, or grant-maintained special school (in each case within the meaning of the 1996 Act(7)), is the authority maintaining(8) it;

(b) the appropriate body in relation to a non-maintained special school is the authority for the area in which the school is situated; and

(c) the appropriate body in relation to an independent school is–

(i) where the authority for the area in which the school is situated and the proprietor of the school both agree, that authority, or

(ii) in any other case, such body as the Secretary of State shall determine, which body shall include as a member a representative of an authority.

Appeal body

5.  In these Regulations, “appeal body” means the Secretary of State.

Requirement to serve an induction period

6.  Subject to the exceptions in Schedule 1, no person shall be employed on or after 1st September 1999 as a teacher at a relevant school unless he has satisfactorily completed an induction period in accordance with the following provisions of these Regulations in a school to which regulation 7(1) refers.

Schools in which an induction period may be served

7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) an induction period may only be served in–

(a) a relevant school in England; or

(b) in the circumstances prescribed in paragraph (3) an independent school in England.

(2) An induction period may not be served in–

(a) a school in respect of which the circumstances described in section 15(6)(a) to (c) of the 1998 Act apply, unless–

(i) the person in question began his induction period at the school at a time when such circumstances did not apply, or

(ii) one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools in England, has certified in writing that he is satisfied that the school is fit for the purpose of providing induction supervision and training; or

(b) a pupil referral unit.

(3) The circumstances in which a person may serve an induction period in an independent school are–

(a) in the case of a person who is employed to teach pupils at the third or fourth key stage, the curriculum of the school for pupils at those key stages includes all the core and other foundation subjects specified in relation to the third and fourth key stages in section 354(2) of the 1996 Act which such person is employed to teach; and

(b) in all cases, the curriculum for all registered pupils at the first and second key stages meets the requirements of section 353 of the 1996 Act (the National Curriculum), other than the requirements of paragraph (c) of that section (assessment arrangements).

(4) In this regulation, “induction period” includes a part of an induction period.

Length of an induction period

8.—(1) The length of an induction period for a person in full-time service as a teacher is–

(a) in the case of an induction period served wholly in a school or schools at which a school year consists of three school terms, three school terms;

(b) in the case of an induction period served wholly in a school or schools at which the school year consists of four school terms, four school terms;

(c) in the case of an induction period served wholly in a school or schools at which the school year consists of five school terms, five school terms; and

(d) in all other cases, one year.

(2) The length of an induction period for a person in part-time service as a teacher is the period of time it would take in accordance with his contract of employment or the terms of his engagement for him to complete 378 school sessions.

(3) A person has completed an induction period for the purposes of these Regulations when he has served–

(a) an induction period of the length specified in paragraph (1) or (2) (as the case may be) discounting periods of employment which do not count towards an induction period under regulation 9; and

(b) any extended period under regulation 10.

Periods of employment counting towards an induction period

9.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) any period of employment on or after 1st September 1999 as a qualified teacher in a school to which regulation 7(1) applies of not less than one school term in duration counts towards an induction period.

(2) No period of engagement as a supply teacher counts towards an induction period unless the head teacher of the school so agrees before the start of such period.

(3) Except as provided for in paragraph (1) no period of employment as a teacher counts towards an induction period.

Extension of an induction period before completion

10.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) where a person serving an induction period is absent from work for an aggregate period of thirty or more school days in an induction period, his induction period shall be extended by the aggregate period of his absences.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply where a person is absent from work by reason of the maternity leave period specified in section 73 of the Employment Rights Act 1996(9) unless she so chooses.

(3) Where five or more years have passed since a person started his induction period, and that person has not completed his induction period, he may with the agreement of the appropriate body choose to extend his induction period–

(a) in the case of a teacher in full-time service by a period not exceeding the appropriate period specified in regulation 8(1); or

(b) in the case of a teacher in part-time service by a period not exceeding the period specified in regulation 8(2).

(4) Except as provided for in this regulation an induction period may not be extended before its completion.

Service of more than one induction period

11.  Except as provided for in regulation 14 or 17, no person may serve more than one induction period.

Supervision and training during the induction period

12.—(1) The head teacher of a school in which a person serves an induction period and the appropriate body in relation to that school shall be responsible for his supervision and training during the induction period.

(2) The duties assigned to a person serving an induction period, his supervision and the conditions under which he works shall be such as to facilitate a fair and effective assessment of his conduct and efficiency as a teacher.

Standards for determining whether a person has satisfactorily completed an induction period

13.  The Secretary of State may determine the standards against which a person who has completed an induction period shall be assessed for the purpose of deciding whether he has satisfactorily completed his induction period.

Completion of an induction period

14.—(1) This regulation applies where a person has completed an induction period.

(2) The head teacher of the school at which he is employed at the completion of his induction period shall not later than the end of the period of ten working days beginning with the date on which he completed his induction period–

(a) make a written recommendation to the appropriate body as to whether he has achieved the standards mentioned in regulation 13, and

(b) at the same time send a copy of such recommendation to him.

(3) The appropriate body shall not later than the end of the period of 20 working days beginning with the date on which it received the head teacher’s recommendation under paragraph (2) decide whether he–

(a) has achieved the standards mentioned in regulation 13 and has accordingly satisfactorily completed his induction period; or

(b) should have his induction period extended by such period as it determines; or

(c) has failed satisfactorily to complete his induction period.

(4) Before making a decision under paragraph (3) the appropriate body shall have regard to any written representations received from the person in question no later than the end of the period of 10 working days beginning with the date on which it received the head-teacher’s recommendation under paragraph (2).

(5) The appropriate body shall not later than the end of the period of three working days beginning with the date on which it made a decision under paragraph (3)–

(a) give written notice of its decision to–

(i) him,

(ii) the head teacher of the school at which he was employed at the completion of his induction period,

(iii) if he is not employed by the appropriate body, his employer,

(iv) on and after the date of their establishment, the General Teaching Council for England, and

(v) the Department for Education and Employment; and

(b) if the appropriate body made a decision falling within paragraph (3)(b) or (c), give him written notice of–

(i) his right to appeal against the decision,

(ii) the name and address of the appeal body, and

(iii) the time period for making an appeal.

Extension of an induction period pursuant to a decision of the appropriate body or appeal body

15.  Regulations 7, 9 to 14, 16 and 17 and Schedule 2 apply in relation to a person serving an induction period extended following its completion by a decision of the appropriate body under regulation 14 or of the appeal body under regulation 17.

Termination of employment following failure to complete an induction period satisfactorily

16.—(1) This paragraph applies to a person employed as a teacher at a relevant school who has failed satisfactorily to complete his induction period.

(2) The employer of a person to whom paragraph (1) applies shall secure the termination of his employment as a teacher if–

(a) he does not appeal to the appeal body against the decision of the appropriate body; or

(b) his appeal to the appeal body is dismissed.

(3) An employer shall take the steps necessary to secure the termination of a person’s employment in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (2)(a) so that the termination takes effect not later than the end of the period of ten working days beginning with the date on which–

(a) the employer received written notification from such person that he did not intend to appeal to the appeal body; or

(b) the time limit for appeal imposed by paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 2 expired.

(4) The employer shall take the steps necessary to secure the termination of a person’s employment in the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (2)(b) so that the termination takes effect not later than the end of the period of ten working days beginning with the date on which the employer received notice of the outcome of the appeal hearing.

(5) The employer of a person–

(a) to whom paragraph (1) applies, and

(b) who appeals to the appeal body against the decision of the appropriate body, is not obliged to secure the termination of such person’s employment as a teacher pending the outcome of that appeal provided such employer secures that the person only undertakes such limited teaching duties as the Secretary of State may determine.

Appeals

17.—(1) Where the appropriate body decides that a person–

(a) should have his induction period extended; or

(b) has failed satisfactorily to complete his induction period, that person may appeal to the appeal body against the decision.

(2) Schedule 2 has effect in relation to appeals under this regulation.

(3) Where a person appeals against a decision that he should have his induction period extended, the appeal body may–

(a) allow the appeal;

(b) dismiss the appeal; or

(c) substitute a different period of extension.

(4) Where a person appeals against a decision that he has failed satisfactorily to complete his induction period, the appeal body may–

(a) allow the appeal;

(b) dismiss the appeal; or

(c) extend the induction period for such period as it thinks fit.

Other functions of the appropriate body

18.  The appropriate body may provide–

(a) guidance, support and assistance to schools; and

(b) training for teachers, in connection with providing induction training, supervision and assessment under these Regulations.

Charges

19.  An appropriate body in relation to an independent school may make a reasonable charge (not exceeding the cost of provision of the service) to the governing body of a school for which it is the appropriate body in connection with any of is functions under these Regulations.

Guidance given by the Secretary of State

20.  A person or body exercising a function under these Regulations shall have regard to any guidance given by the Secretary of State from time to time as to the exercise of that function.

Education Standards Grants

21.  References to “eligible expenditure” in section 484 of the 1996 Act(10) (education standards grants) include expenditure incurred by an authority in respect of their functions under these Regulations.

Estelle Morris

Minister of State,

Department for Education and Employment

31st March 1999