Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998

Induction periods

19Requirement to serve induction period

(1)Regulations may make provision for, and in connection with, requiring persons employed as teachers at relevant schools, subject to such exceptions as may be provided for by or under the regulations, to have satisfactorily completed an induction period of not less than three school terms in—

(a)a relevant school, or

(b)in such circumstances as may be prescribed, an independent school.

(2)Regulations under this section may, in particular, make provision—

(a)as to the length of the induction period in any prescribed circumstances;

(b)as to periods of employment which are to count towards the induction period;

(c)precluding a person from serving more than one induction period except in any prescribed circumstances;

(d)precluding a relevant school, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, from being one at which an induction period may be served;

(e)as to the supervision and training of a person during his induction period;

(f)authorising the Secretary of State to determine the standards against which a person employed as a teacher at a school is to be assessed for the purpose of deciding whether he has satisfactorily completed an induction period;

(g)requiring the appropriate body to decide whether a person—

(i)has achieved those standards and has accordingly satisfactorily completed his induction period, or

(ii)should have his induction period extended by such period as may be determined by the appropriate body, or

(iii)has failed satisfactorily to complete his induction period;

(h)requiring the head teacher of a school to make a recommendation to the appropriate body as to whether a person has achieved the standards mentioned in paragraph (f);

(i)requiring the appropriate body to inform the Secretary of State and either the Council or the General Teaching Council for Wales of any decision under paragraph (g);

(j)requiring the employer of a person employed as a teacher at a relevant school to secure—

(i)the termination of that person’s employment as a teacher, or

(ii)that he only undertakes such teaching duties as may be determined in accordance with the regulations,

in such circumstances following a decision that he has failed satisfactorily to complete his induction period as may be prescribed;

(k)authorising or requiring the appropriate body to exercise such other functions as may be prescribed (which may include functions with respect to the provision of assistance to schools or of training for teachers);

(l)authorising the appropriate body in such circumstances as may be prescribed to make such reasonable charges in connection with the exercise of its functions under the regulations as it may determine;

(m)requiring any person or body exercising any prescribed function under the regulations to have regard to any guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State as to the exercise of that function.

(3)Once the Council or the General Teaching Council for Wales have been established, the Secretary of State shall consult one or both of those Councils (as appropriate) before making any determination as to standards by virtue of regulations made under subsection (2)(f).

(4)Regulations under this section shall include provision conferring on a person aggrieved by a decision under subsection (2)(g) a right to appeal against the decision to one of the following, namely—

(a)the Secretary of State, or

(b)the Council or the General Teaching Council for Wales;

and any decision made on such an appeal shall be final.

(5)Regulations made in pursuance of subsection (4) may make provision for, or for the determination in accordance with the regulations of, such matters relating to such appeals as the Secretary of State considers necessary or expedient.

(6)In subsection (2) “the appropriate body” means such person or body (including a local education authority) as may be prescribed by, or determined by the Secretary of State in accordance with, regulations under this section; and such regulations may provide for an appropriate body which is not a local education authority to include a representative of such an authority.

(7)During the induction period which a person is required to serve by virtue of regulations made under this section, the provisions of section 49 of the [1986 c. 61.] Education (No. 2) Act 1986 (appraisal of teachers' performance) and regulations made under that section shall not apply to him.

(8)Regulations may provide for references to “eligible expenditure” in section 484 of the [1996 c. 56.] Education Act 1996 (education standards grants) to include such expenditure incurred by local education authorities in consequence of any regulations made by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) as may be prescribed.

(9)Where, in accordance with a requirement imposed by virtue of subsection (2)(j)(ii), a teacher employed at a school maintained by a local education authority—

(a)continues to be employed at the school, but

(b)is not undertaking his normal teaching duties there,

any costs incurred by the local education authority in respect of the teacher’s emoluments shall not be met from the school’s budget share for any financial year except in so far as the authority have good reason for deducting those costs, or any part of those costs, from that share.

Nothing in this subsection applies to a maintained school at any time when the school does not have a delegated budget.

(10)In this section—

(a)any reference to a school’s budget share or to its not having a delegated budget has the same meaning as in Part II of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998,

(b)“relevant schools” means such schools as are referred to in section 218(12) of the [1988 c. 40.] Education Reform Act 1988, and

(c)“independent school” has the same meaning as in the Education Act 1996.