Three leadership levers to support ECTs working with multilingual learners

Across the UK, schools are welcoming increasingly diverse cohorts of pupils, of whom over 1 in 5 now use English as an Additional Language (EAL). For early career teachers (ECTs), this diversity can be both rewarding and challenging. While ECTs bring strong subject knowledge and enthusiasm, only 43% report feeling well prepared to teach in multicultural or multilingual settings (DfE 2024).

For school leaders, the question is no longer whether to support ECTs working with multilingual learners, but how this support can be embedded sustainably and consistently within existing frameworks. The Department for Education's combined Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), alongside Ofsted's new focus on the inspection of EAL provision for pupils at the early stages of English acquisition, presents a timely opportunity.

By harnessing three well-established leadership levers – ECT induction, whole-school systems, and an inclusive school culture – leaders can ensure that support for ECTs is not only effective, but integral to improving EAL provision across their school.

The guidance below outlines practical, policy-aligned strategies that school leaders can use to strengthen support for ECTs while improving outcomes for pupils who use EAL.

1. Strengthen induction, mentoring and professional development

Leaders can support ECTs most effectively by ensuring that multilingualism and EAL are embedded within induction and mentoring processes, rather than treated as optional additions. This may include:

• Embedding EAL within mentoring conversations: Not all mentoring programmes routinely address multilingualism or EAL pedagogy. Unless made explicit, both can easily be overlooked. It should also not be assumed that all mentors have the expertise or confidence to lead these discussions. The Bell Foundation's ECT and EAL Series offers free, online mentoring materials to support meaningful dialogue alongside professional EAL learning for both ECTs and mentors.
• Access to expertise and effective practice: ECTs should know who their school EAL Lead is, what support is available, and how to access it. Even brief planning conversations can quickly build confidence.  Opportunities to observe experienced colleagues modelling effective EAL strategies – such as the use of home languages, visuals, or structured talk scaffolds – are often more impactful than written guidance alone.  

Together, these approaches reduce the risk of ECTs feeling isolated or underprepared when teaching linguistically diverse classes. 

2. Build whole-school systems that promote consistency

For ECTs, consistency across the school is crucial. Mixed messages about how to support multilingual learners can undermine confidence and increase workload. Leaders can reduce this burden by establishing clear, shared expectations, including:

• Agreed classroom strategies and centralised resources: Identifying a small number of high-impact EAL approaches that all staff use (for example, explicit vocabulary teaching, visual support, and the use of comprehensible English) provides clarity and reassurance for ECTs. Centralised banks of visuals, word mats, sentence frames, and translated materials further reduce duplication and workload. These are particularly valuable for ECTs navigating adaptive teaching and planning for the first time.

• A whole-school EAL or language policy: A dedicated EAL policy plays a critical role in:

  • clearly communicating the school's values, aims, and expectations around multilingualism and use of home languages;
  • ensuring consistent and well-aligned EAL provision across the school;
  • supporting all staff, including the EAL Coordinator or Lead, to understand their roles and responsibilities;
  • improving the quality of provision and outcomes for multilingual learners.

  Leaders should ensure that ECTs have easy access to this policy as a living document that actively informs classroom practice.

• Induction of new arrivals: Support for newly arrived multilingual pupils is more effective when schools have a structured EAL induction programme in place. Such programmes help ECTs by setting out clear whole-school expectations and outlining the support available to new arrivals from the point of admission through the initial weeks at the school.
• Clear guidance on assessment: ECTs often struggle to separate English language proficiency from subject knowledge, as limited English can obscure a pupil's true understanding. To ensure fair and accurate assessment – especially for new arrivals – schools should provide clear guidance on evaluating both language proficiency and curriculum knowledge, including adapting subject assessments so they do not rely solely on pupils' use of English. For further tools and guidance see the Foundation's EAL Assessment Framework.

By embedding EAL within whole-school systems, leaders ensure that ECTs are supported by a coherent approach rather than being expected to improvise independently. Tools such as The Bell Foundation's Whole-school self-evaluation for EAL provision and EAL guidance for school leaders can support this work.

3. Foster a culture of belonging and professional confidence

Beyond systems and structures, school culture plays a decisive role in how confident ECTs feel when working with multilingual learners. Leaders can strengthen inclusivity and professional confidence by:

• Normalising professional learning: Developing expertise in EAL and multilingualism should be framed as an ongoing journey. ECTs need to feel safe to ask questions, reflect honestly, and seek support without fear of judgement.
• Valuing multilingualism: Celebrating pupils' home languages and cultures through displays, assemblies, and curriculum content helps ECTs view linguistic diversity as an asset rather than a challenge to overcome.
• Supporting engagement with multilingual families: Providing guidance on working with families who may be unfamiliar with the UK education system, including access to translation tools and culturally responsive communication strategies, which help to strengthen relationships and improve engagement.
• Encouraging pupil voice: Simple, accessible ways of gathering feedback from EAL learners help ECTs refine their practice while reinforcing pupils' sense of belonging.

When ECTs feel supported and pupils feel valued, confidence grows on both sides of the classroom.

Building confidence to support every pupil

Supporting early career teachers to work effectively with multilingual learners does not require new initiatives or additional workload. Instead, it calls for intentional leadership: the strategic use of existing levers – mentoring, whole-school systems, and school culture – to build clarity, coherence, and confidence.

By embedding a clear focus on EAL within these levers, and aligning this work with the ITTECF framework and Ofsted's expectations for EAL provision, school leaders can ensure that ECTs are equipped not merely to cope, but to thrive – while securing high-quality education for all learners.

Find out more

Supporting ECTs to meet the needs of every pupil is central to effective early career development. Learn more about Teach First's Early Career Training Programme (ECTP) and how it supports teachers through their first two years in the profession.