The importance of starting well: the influence of early career support on job satisfaction and career intentions in teaching

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic data

	Total	England	Scotland
Number of respondents	382	226	156
Teacher characteristics
Gender: Male	75	43	32
Gender: Female	298	179	119
Age: under 25	133	88	45
Age: 25–34	162	94	68
Age: 35–44	52	31	21
Age: 45–54	29	9	20
Age: over 55	3	2	1
Ethnicity: White	343	195	148
Ethnicity: Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	6	5	1
Ethnicity: Asian/Asian British	16	15	1
Ethnicity: Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	2	2	0
Ethnicity: not given	10	6	4
School sector
Primary	226	146	80
Secondary	156	80	76
School location
Urban	173	129	44
Suburban	124	65	59
Semi-rural (small town)	68	28	40
Rural	17	4	13
Tenure
Full time	353	213	140
Part time	14	8	6
Short-term supply	4	0	4
Long-term supply	11	5	6

Figure 1. Model exploring the interaction of factors influencing job satisfaction, career intentions and professional learning needs.

Table 2. Survey items for preparedness, support for professional learning and job satisfaction

Q13 ITE preparedness/ Q27 Professional learning needs for Year 2	Q16 Mentor support in Year 1	Q17 Impact of mentoring on practice enhancement	Q31 Job satisfaction
Meeting the needs of diverse learners	School policies & procedures	Deepened my subject knowledge	Opportunities for collaborative professional learning
Managing challenging classroom behaviour	Classroom management	Improved my skills in addressing pupil needs	Level of professional challenge
Supporting students with specific additional learning needs	Lesson planning	Increased my ability to use data effectively to support pupil progress	Level of collegiality among school staff
Working with others in the classroom (Teaching Assistants)	Teaching strategies	Supported identification of professional development goals	Recognition – acknowledgement of good work
Designing curriculum plans (medium term)	Assessment practices	Equipped me to conduct practitioner enquiry	Opportunity to build positive relationships with children and young people
Planning individual lessons	Inclusive pedagogy	Supported the development of my research literacy	Level of autonomy over class-level decisions/scope for innovation
Supporting child-led experiences	Impact evaluation		Quality of the physical environment/school accommodation
Using a variety of assessment strategies			Access to resources to support learning
Selecting the most appropriate teaching strategy			Class sizes
Working with parents			Workload and work-life balance
Working in culturally diverse settings			Positive workplace – support for teacher wellbeing
Safeguarding children and young people			Salary
Embedding health and wellbeing in the curriculum
Using digital technology to support learning
Promoting social and emotional health in children and adolescents
Using data to support pupil progress (assessment data, student data, evaluation data)
Time management
Completing Individual Education Plans (SEND)
Taking responsibility for a class as the only teacher in the room

Table 3. Examining responses to what aspects of training continued to be a training need

	Pre and post NQT	Mean	Median	N	Range	SD	Z-score	Significance
Meeting the needs of diverse learners	Pre (Q13)	3.02	3.00	379	3	.747	−10.675	< .001
	Post (Q27)	2.37	2.00	378	3	.815
Managing challenging classroom behaviour	Pre (Q13)	2.91	3.00	380	3	.888	−8.021	< .001
	Post (Q27)	2.45	2.00	378	3	.924
Supporting students with specific additional learning needs	Pre (Q13)	2.71	3.00	381	3	.911	−10.429	< .001
	Post (Q27)	2.08	2.00	377	3	.811

Table 4. Survey questions for school context

Q4. School locality	Q5. School size/enrolments	Q6. Number of NQTs in school	Q8. More than 20% of students eligible for Free School Meals	Q9. Employment status of NQT
Urban	Less than 300 students	Only NQT	Yes	Full time
Suburban	300–599	2–3 NQTs	No	Part Time
Semi-rural (small town)	600–899	4–5 NQTs		Short term supply (less than one term)
Rural	900–1,200	More than 5 NQTs		Long term supply
	Over 1,200

Table 5. Training location: means and standard deviations for each survey variable

		Mean	SD	N
Preparedness from initial training	England	59.40	9.97	186
	Scotland	54.28	10.87	135
Induction mentor hours (per month)	England	3.22	1.38	186
	Scotland	3.54	1.26	135
Induction mentor support	England	23.81	4.99	186
	Scotland	22.86	5.11	135
Impact of mentor feedback on practice enhancement	England	18.26	4.81	186
	Scotland	17.84	4.93	135
Job satisfaction	England	48.34	9.39	186
	Scotland	45.83	9.57	135

Table 6. Association between location and whether the NQT had a supportive and qualified mentor. Observed and (expected counts)

	England	Scotland
No	24 (30)	27 (21)
Yes	202 (196)	128 (135)

Table 7. Training pathway: means and standard deviations for each survey variable

		Mean	SE	N	Bootstrapped CI 95%
Preparedness from initial training	England School-led	58.78	1.16	68	56.37–61.00
	England UG	58.82	1.48	55	56.00–61.72
	England PG	59.06	1.20	80	56.60–61.30
	Scotland UG	59.20	1.92	25	55.10–62.93
	Scotland PG	53.06	1.00	111	51.17–55.03
Impact of mentor feedback on practice enhancement	England School-led	17.08	0.62	75	15.83–18.26
	England UG	18.97	0.60	58	17.71–20.07
	England PG	18.40	0.44	90	17.52–19.25
	Scotland UG	17.64	1.03	28	15.57–19.65
	Scotland PG	17.50	0.45	126	16.61–18.41
Job satisfaction	England School-led	47.26	1.16	72	44.91–49.53
	England UG	48.65	1.18	57	46.29–50.94
	England PG	47.57	0.98	90	45.62–49.53
	Scotland UG	46.11	2.01	28	42.13–50.04
	Scotland PG	45.66	0.84	123	43.97–47.31
Training needs at the end of induction	England School-led	53.29	1.35	69	50.57–55.97
	England UG	54.38	1.81	53	50.69–57.87
	England PG	49.93	1.61	82	46.66–52.95
	Scotland UG	53.15	2.26	26	48.50–57.32
	Scotland PG	50.35	1.00	116	48.36–52.27