DfE are making changes to the way schools register and manage ECTs and mentors online with the DfE.

ECTE: Registration:

School’s and Induction Tutor’s can login to the Register Early Career Teachers (RECT) DfE service to set up and manage the ECTE for any ECTs or Mentors who start training at any point during the academic year.

Registration for the 2026–2027 academic year is now open.

Induction Tutors will receive an email from DfE.

Please note DfE will be staggering the communications sent to schools for the opening of the registration service, starting from 15 June 2026, so not all schools will receive these communications at the same time.

In addition to registering ECTs on the Register Early Career Teachers (RECT) DfE service, they must be registered directly with the school’s appointed Appropriate Body (AB) before the start of their induction.

If you wish to appoint HISP Teaching School Hub as your AB, please click here.

Resources to help support schools using the register early career teachers service can be found here.

What these changes mean for your school: 

Signing in to the service is different:

You will need a DfE Sign-in account to use the service.

DfE Sign-in is a single sign-on service that provides access to DfE services. Your school might already use it for other DfE services, and you might already have a DfE Sign-in account.

If you do not have a DfE Sign-in account, you can create one.

How DfE Sign-in works:

1. Schools need to appoint a DfE Sign-in approver. This person verifies the identity of users before giving access to services. The approver is often the headteacher or an administrator.
2. Users who want access to DfE services need to create a DfE Sign-in account. They use their account to select their school and request access to services.

You can get help with DfE Sign-in.

Once this is set up, access is requested in two stages: 

Part 1: Request access to your organisation 

You can see which organisations your DfE account is connected to via this link: https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/organisations

If you cannot see your school listed there, you need to request access to it by following these steps: 

1. Search for your school on the ‘Request an organisation’ page: https://services.signin.education.gov.uk/request-organisation/search
2. Select your school from the search results.
3. Add details about why you need access to your school and select ‘Confirm’.

Once you have access to your school, you can get access to the Register early career teachers service.

Part 2: Request access to the service 

1. Sign in to DfE services
2. You should now be on a page called ‘Request a service for which organisation?’. You should see your school listed on that page.
3. Select your school from the list and select ‘Continue’. This will take you to a page with a list of services.
4. Select ‘Register early career teachers’ from the list of services and select ‘Continue’.
5. Select ‘Request service’ to submit the request to your school’s approver.
6. Once the approver has given you access, you’ll be able to log into the service.

If you experience any issues, please contact the DfE support team at: continuing-professional-development@education.gov.uk

More than one school user can use the registration service:

Your school’s DfE Sign-in approver can give access to the register early career teachers service to multiple users.

Lead provider training for ECTs and mentors:

Lead providers can be selected for individual ECTs and mentors (if your school uses a provider-led training programme).

Manage ECTs and mentors leaving schools:

You must now tell DfE when an ECT or mentor has left your school and is not expected to return.

HISP Teaching School Hub’s DfE funded provider-led training programme: 

HISP TSH continues to partner with Education Development Trust (edt) and we are proud to deliver the ‘Early Career Training Programme (ECTP) to all ECTs and Mentors.

Who can I contact at HISP Teaching School Hub for advice, guidance and support?

ECTE and/ or ECTP Registration	Appropriate Body Registration
Email: ecte@hisptsh.org Telephone: 02382 357517	Email: ab@hisptsh.org Telephone: 02382 145526