This page contains information about guidance and application forms for the Excellent Teacher (ET) Scheme, introduced in 2006, which comes to an end on 31 August 2013.

To be eligible for an ET post, teachers must:

  • have been paid on point 3 of the upper pay scale for not less than two years when they take up post;
  • be willing to meet the expectations of an Excellent Teacher; and
  • be either (a) employed in a school where a vacancy for an Excellent Teacher exists or (b) have been assessed already as meeting the Excellent Teacher standards.

Application forms

Applying for an Excellent Teacher post is voluntary and those teachers who wish to apply should complete the ETS1 application form. They should pass it to their head teacher who will add their comments, complete the relevant declarations and submit the completed form to the ET national assessment agency.

Excellent Teacher guidance

This page contains Excellent Teacher guidance that the Department produced in 2007 for teachers, head teachers and local authorities in England and Wales. This guidance is still current with the exception that from 1 September 2012 all references to the Core Standards should be read as referring to the new “Teachers’ Standards” which replace the QTS and Core Standards.

Future Arrangements for ETs

Please see the FAQs document on this page for details of the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendations about the ET standards. The recommendations, which have been accepted, include discontinuation of the ET standards and school discretion to create higher salary posts for teachers whose primary purpose is the modelling and leading improvement of teaching skills. The 2013 School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) has been published so that all schools are able to plan for the changes that need to be made from 1 September.

The arrangements for ET assessment set out in the STPCD 2012 will continue to apply during the lifetime of that document, so although the ET scheme is coming to an end, it is still possible to be assessed against the standards and appointed to an ET post before the end of the summer term.