About Us

NTA acts as the Appropriate Body in respect of ECT induction and carries out the statutory duties associated with that role for ECTs employed in academies and schools registered with our scheme.  Appropriate Bodies have oversight of the induction processes and procedures within their schools.

Appropriate Body remit and responsibilities are defined by
  • Sections 135A, 135B and 141C(1)(b) of the Education Act 2012
  • Induction Arrangements for School Teachers (England) Regulations 2012,
  • and the current DfE guidance Induction for early career teachers (England) 2012.

NTA (formerly NIPT) was established in 2013 at the request of the Department for Education by CST (Confederation of School Trusts) and IAA (the Independent Academies Association) and is now solely operated by CST.  NTA is overseen by a Board of Directors, comprising three members from CST. The board is responsible for the governance of the scheme, overseeing the finances and the work of senior staff. The Board appoints the Appropriate Body Panel, which is responsible for approving decisions about induction and whether the ECT has passed or failed or if induction should be extended.  Panel members must be serving or recently retired head teachers of schools rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted whose examination results match or exceed the national average of the current accountability framework.

The constitutional make-up of the panel consists of
  • 1 Independent Chair appointed by NTA Board
  • Up to 3 appointed from CST by CST Board
  • Up to 4 appointed by NTA Board by an open recruitment process (can be CST or Non-CST with at least 1 non-CST)
  • 1 Maintained school appointed by NTA Board through an open recruitment process (if there are substantial numbers of maintained schools using NTA).

The Scheme is run by Caroline Whitty, Executive Director and Martin Shevill Senior Education Adviser with administrative support from Helen Dowling. A team of experienced Quality Assurance Officers will provide support and quality assure schools’ induction processes.

What we do
  • We provide a dedicated service – this is the only service we provide which means we can offer rapid response times
  • We have online support material so you don’t have the additional cost of ECTs attending training programmes off site and associated travel cover costs
  • We pride ourselves on the robustness of our process and feedback we get supports this
  • We can offer MATs with disparate locations one consistent process, one point of contact and the ability to enable the tracking of an entire ECT cohort centrally avoiding dealing with multiple LAs with varying processes, quality of service and cost
  • We are flexible and can accommodate different term structures and particular ECT circumstances
  • We intervene very quickly to support schools where an ECT is struggling with the clear objective of helping them to succeed, however we will support a school’s decision to fail a teacher if the evidence shows that they are not meeting the Teachers’ Standards. We consider we have an important role to play in maintaining and raising the standard of teaching nationally
We stand by our values
  • Honesty - We give honest and realistic support and advice to ensure the required standards are met at all times.
  • Integrity - We give independent and impartial support and advice throughout the whole process, to ensure the required standards are met at all times.
  • Accountability - We hold statutory responsibility for the overseeing of the induction process and ensuring the required standards are met at all times.
  • Empowerment - We provide resources and a framework to quality assure the induction process.
Testimonial

The level and speed of support has been exceptional. The training offered is flexible and of high quality and the resources that are provided have made the administration of the process far more incisive and streamlined. Highly recommended. Ian Fidler – Training Manager The West Bridgford School, Nottingham