There is a demand from schools for evidence on the best way to retain early career teachers, because the stress and difficulty associated with working as an ECT can make it hard for schools to recruit and retain them. In addition, existing evidence indicates that teachers’ first few years on the job are a formative period during which improvements to teaching practice are easiest to achieve. The EEF funded RETAIN to assess its promise as an intervention which can deliver greater knowledge and confidence and reduce the likelihood of teachers leaving the profession.

Participating teachers saw an increase in their knowledge and understanding of strategies for teaching disadvantaged students, and reported changes in their classroom practice. Their self-efficacy, confidence and research-use also increased. However, because this pilot was not designed to measure impact, it did not use a comparison group of teachers, and so it is possible that this improvement may have occurred anyway, as the teachers became more experienced, or due to general school support.

The teachers received extensive support in line with the evidence about effective professional development. However, the extent to which they could put learning into practice varied: teachers in schools which were open to changing existing school practices found it easier to apply their learning.

While this pilot found that RETAIN is ready for a trial, the programme would benefit from further development work, including a tighter focus on improving pupil outcomes, so the EEF is not currently taking it forward to an efficacy trial. We are always cautious about conducting efficacy trials before programmes are fully ready as it risks underestimating their potential. This is a decision we will keep under review.