Appropriate Body Service

A High Quality Service for ECTs and their Schools

All schools that offer a statutory induction are required to have an Appropriate Body (AB) for their Early Career Teachers (ECTs). Appropriate Bodies play a key role in supporting schools to meet statutory teacher induction.  

As one of our Teaching School Hub services, SWIFT provides a streamlined AB service for primary and secondary ECTs across the South West. The SWIFT AB service combines expertise from Kingsbridge and Colyton Appropriate Body Services.

For further information contact us on either of the links below:

Colyton Appropriate Body | Kingsbridge Appropriate Body

About Us

Through moderation and quality assurance, SWIFT works collaboratively with schools to ensure that ECTs are fairly and consistently assessed. In line with the new guidance, we also conduct fidelity checks, to ensure ECTs are receiving a programme of support and training based on the Early Career Framework (ECF). 
  
New statutory guidance was issued in September 2021 and can be found HERE

Prices | Cohort C | 2023 – 2025

As an Appropriate Body we are required by the DfE to run our service on a not-for-profit basis. This means our price always represents the lowest figure at which we can deliver the service without compromising on the high quality, responsive support that we offer ECTs and their schools across the two years of induction. In addition, we benchmark our prices against other Teaching School Hub-based delivery to ensure our service represents excellent value for money

full details of our pricing structure

Information Webinar Recording

SWIFT AB Handbook

Full Induction Programme | FIP | £380 per ECT

Year 1 Costs	Year 2 Costs
£190 per ECT	£190 per ECT

Please note that this fee applies for all ECTs being registered for at least a full year of the programme. Please contact your AB for fees for in-year starters or for ECTs with temporary contracts of less than a year.

Core Induction Programme | CIP | £380 per ECT plus cost of CIP fidelity checks

*Number of ECTs	Year 1 Costs  £190 per ECT   PLUS Fidelity Checks	Year 2 Costs  £190 per ECT   PLUS Fidelity Checks	Additional Fidelity Checks  (if required)
1 - 3	£375 per school	£375 per school	£500
4 – 6	£475 per school	£475 per school	£800
7 – 9	£575 per school	£575 per school	£1,100
10 +	£675 per school	£675 per school	£1,400

Example:

3 ECTs in Year 1 ( £190 * 3 ) + £375
3 ECTs in Year 2 ( £190 * 3 ) + £375

School Based Programme | SBP | £380 per ECT plus cost of SBP fidelity checks

Year 1 Costs	Year 2 Costs	Fidelity Checks
£190 per ECT  Plus costs for fidelity check	£190 per ECT  Plus costs for fidelity check	A daily rate of £350 will be charged for the fidelity checking of School-Based Programmes.  Please contact us directly to find out the cost for your school.

Benefits of the SWIFT AB packages for schools

SWIFT AB Standard Package | Full Induction Programme | FIP | £380 per ECT

Independent quality assurance of the Early Career Teacher induction and entitlements.
Quality assurance of, and expert review of both formal end of year assessments and progress reviews, against the teacher standards.
Centralised registration of ECTs across the region, with the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).
Centralised point of contact for all schools and ECTs; direct telephone and online support through our central AB team.
Expert advice and training for Headteachers and ECF Induction Tutors in all school settings.
Welcome, induction and ECT Manager training for ECTs (live and recorded webinar).
Access to the ECT Manager website, a simple and secure paperless system for ECT registration, assessments and induction resources.
Regular drop-in clinics for Q&A support for both ECTs and Induction Tutors.
Email reminders for key actions and deadlines .
An Induction Handbook which will provide Induction Tutors, Headteachers, Governors and ECTs with the key information needed to support the Induction process.
Clear and supportive advice where ECTs are at risk of failure with advice on appropriate ECT personal support plans.
Up to two days of monitoring visits and feedback should an ECT or school raise concerns*

*Support for ECTs raising concerns includes up to two days support at the discretion of the Appropriate Body. Additional support will be charged at a daily rate of £350 per day, and this will be agreed in advance of the visit. These visits may be made up of online meetings and / or face to face visits depending upon need.

Core Induction Programme | CIP | £380 per ECT plus cost of CIP fidelity checks

All benefits from the SWIFT AB Standard Package

PLUS 

Fidelity Checks to ensure: 
(See table above for price of CIP fidelity checks).

Initial orientation meeting between CIP school and AB to discuss the programme and requirements .
CIP handbook sent to school.
Pre - programme fidelity checks - paperwork/programme overview and delivery with feedback meeting. 
On-hand strategic lead support throughout. 
Schools to provide detailed breakdown of the programme for Years 1 and 2. 
Organisation of Fidelity Check 1. 
Fidelity Check 1 - school visit and visit overview.
Follow-up meeting from Fidelity Check 1.

*If the AB conclude that further support and/or visits are required to ensure fidelity to the ECF, these will be charged at rate in the table above. 

School Based Programme | SBP | £380 per ECT plus cost of SBP fidelity checks

All benefits from the SWIFT AB Standard Package

PLUS 

Fidelity Checks to ensure: 
(See table above for price of SBP fidelity checks).

ECTs and Induction Leads receive a programme of support and training based on the ECF induction programme. 
The induction’s design covers the evidence-based statements in the ECF. 
ECTs have received planned elements of the induction. 
Checks to ensure the materials and sessions are in line with the statutory guidance for induction and meet the ECF standards. 
Schools to provide detailed breakdown of the programme for years 1 and 2 showing how the ECF statements are sequenced for the induction period year.

Please Note: ABs are expected to check in a greater level of detail where schools have opted to design their own school-based programme due to the greater risk that a school-based induction could diverge from the ECF when DfE accredited materials are not used as the basis for an induction programme. ‘DfE April 2021’ 

Further support from your SWIFT AB team

Confidential 1-1 advice and support
If you are an ECT or Induction Tutor and need to access further confidential support from your AB, please contact the team via the helpdesk on ECT manager or by emailing:
colytonab@sw-ift.org.uk (Charlotte and Shannon) or Kingsbridgeab@sw-ift.org.uk (Faye).

Statutory Induction clinics
Both Appropriate Bodies within SWIFT will be running two clinics every term to support ECTs and Induction tutors. These are not mandatory, but are opportunities to meet a member of the team online to answer any questions which you may have.

What else does the SWIFT AB Package Offer?

In Year 2 access to SWIFT’s subject-based Professional Communities, which include… 

Termly Events with Compelling Agendas
Expert Speakers
Expert Facilitation and Support
Focus on Core Business
Tools for Sharing Resources

Formal Assessment Form

For guidance about completing the formal assessment form for your Early Career Teacher, you can watch the guidance video here:

formal assessment form | walk through video

Induction Tutor, March 2022

We cannot recommend highly enough, the exemplary service that has been provided by the SWIFT QA team. All colleagues are very quick to respond to enquiries and communicate with clarity, compassion, and a solution focused approach. We appreciate the supportive feedback and reassuring comments about the quality of our ECF provision and feel very valued as a partner, working in collaboration to support our ECTs through their first induction year.  Their commitment to ensuring ECTs, Mentors and Induction Tutors have the necessary knowledge and support for their needs at every stage in the Induction process is what makes SWIFT such a professional awarding body to work with.

David Evans, Induction Tutor, Newton Abbot College

The SWIFT team have not only been supportive and incredibly helpful but a (gold)mine of expertly informed ECF/T advice and information. Any questions have been precisely answered whether by email or during the online seminar sessions. Clear solutions are always offered even to the most specific of enquiries. Your team’s friendly and approachable manner underpins that it is clear that we work in a partnership that improves the support given to our ECT’s and mentors. We really appreciate we can integrate SWIFT AB and Teach First in tandem with our own internal CPD frameworks. SWIFT stands out as a gold standard professional awarding body to work with.