The Department for Education recently published its latest report on take-up of of the early career framework (ECF) and national professional qualifications (NPQs). These are part of government “golden thread” programmes. Overall, the picture so far is – it’s encouraging. Forty-nine per cent of teachers will have participated in at least one of the golden thread programmes by the end of this academic year, compared with 14.1 per cent four years ago. By any measure, this is an impressive achievement. The significance of this data is not just what it tells us about participation in individual programmes. It shows that England has built a national platform for teacher and leader development that includes shared frameworks, a common evidence base, trained mentors and facilitators, and delivery infrastructure reaching schools across the country. That matters more than ever, as schools and trusts are now being asked to implement major reforms on SEND, inclusion, curriculum, attendance and wider school improvement. Year on year progress The ECF was introduced just as we were coming out of Covid-19. It is a huge credit to schools up and down the country that as a system we managed to mobilise a two-year mandatory entitlement for new teachers at such a difficult and pressured time. The ECF’s aim was to help new teachers in those crucial early years, and hopefully stem the tide of people leaving the profession within five years. And it seems to be having a positive effect – the DfE data shows improvements in retention of new teachers over time, which is brilliant. The revised ECF entitlement holds true to the original principles of the programme. But now it does even more to build inclusion consistently throughout the programme, offers more tailoring to respond to differing starting points, and is adapted to respond to the updated initial teacher training curriculum. Key changes It is a great example of high-quality national delivery, responding to feedback and adjusting to make it an even better experience for teachers and mentors. The reformed NPQs were originally introduced with full funding for three years, again with the intention of investing in the workforce as part of Covid recovery. More than 150,000 people have now participated in reformed NPQs – at least one in four teachers and leaders. One of the key changes to NPQs in their fourth year was to make sure they were fully available to schools serving the most disadvantaged pupils, and so funding was targeted to those schools. Participation is consistently higher in schools with higher pupil premium rates, which is a clear and positive impact of protecting funding for these schools. Keep getting better One of the challenges in our education system is the continued under-representation of global majority teachers in leadership roles. It’s encouraging to see that overall golden thread coverage is higher for teachers and leaders from the global majority, particularly for early career teachers. But there is still more to do to make sure leaders from all minority ethnic groups are as well supported to access leadership NPQs and development support as their white peers. This year the DfE has introduced additional funding for further education leaders to access the NPQs, and this will be important in strengthening access for those working in FE colleges. It’s also clear from the data that we need to make sure primary schools have as much access as their secondary counterparts. There was also a noticeable difference in participation between full-time and part-time teachers and leaders (56 per cent compared with 28 per cent). Sustainable mentors Mentors are central to making the EFC entitlement work. They help new teachers make sense of the national framework, contextualise it for their school and pupils and apply it effectively in the classroom. The data suggests we are relying on a relatively experienced group of mentors, who are each mentoring more new teachers than when the programme began. That experience is a strength, but we also need to make sure the role is sustainable. The reforms ahead will depend on a high-quality workforce – whether that’s SEND and inclusion, pupil engagement, early years, 16-19 changes, or implementing the curriculum review. The golden thread programmes provide a strong foundation of shared language and a widely understood evidence base. Looking ahead We should be proud of what we’ve achieved together as a country on professional development in the past four years. Other countries regularly ask how we’ve managed to get almost half of all teachers and leaders to participate in high-quality extended professional development in such a short space of time. We are proud of the contribution Ambition has made to this, with nearly 120,000 people coming through our programmes in that time. But we are clear that this is a huge shared effort – the DfE, the Education Endowment Foundation, lead providers, delivery partners, trusts and schools have all played key roles. Ultimately the commitment of individual teachers, leaders, mentors and facilitators are key to this success. We want to acknowledge their huge contribution to making England a place where professional development is prioritised and valued.