The Early Career Framework is a statutory programme of ‘structured training and support’ for all new teachers in England (DfE 2019a: 4). It is delivered to 95% of new teachers via a complex infrastructure of six officially designated ‘lead providers’ and their chosen ‘delivery partners’. Despite the magnitude of the initiative and the potential power of these organisations, this meso level of policy enactment is currently unexamined in the literature and so very little is understood about their role and the extent and nature of their influence. This qualitative case study of policy implementation analyses publicly available documents and interviews with 16 mid-level policy actors to better understand how, why and to what effect the Early Career Framework has been enacted in the ways that it has. Drawing on the theories of Basil Bernstein, it is argued that strong external framing ensures policy fidelity throughout the delivery infrastructure, embedding the official discourse which constructs the knowledge needed to teach in the generic mode and as a technical endeavour. It is further posited that the differences between the lead providers’ induction programmes suggest their degree of alignment with the official discourse, reflecting their degree of closeness to government. Providers classified as dependent appear to be entrenching the official discourse, whereas non-dependent providers appear to be working within the strict parameters of the Early Career Framework to draw gently on broader discourses of educational knowledge. This research is topical and significant because it seeks to refine our knowledge of this national policy in a level of detail currently absent from the literature, so that we might better understand the messages that new teachers are being given about ‘worthwhile’ educational knowledge and the nature of teacher professionalism.
The Early Career Framework unpacked: exploring the enactment of England’s induction programme for new teachers
Ayres, A. (Author). 18 Feb 2026
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Education (EdD)