Staff induction: your step-by-step guide

Use our tips and checklist to plan effective staff induction so that all new colleagues buy into your school's culture and settle into their role well.

Last reviewed on 25 August 2026See updates
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Contents
  1. Download our induction checklist
  2. Be clear about who is responsible for induction
  3. Prepare beforehand
  4. Make sure induction covers, as a minimum:
  5. Provide important documents
  6. Spread the induction out and mix conversation with materials
  7. Provide the member of staff with a 'buddy'
  8. Evaluate the success of your induction programme

This article is about inducting newly hired staff. For guidance on early career teacher (ECT) induction, for teachers at the start of their careers, take a look at our other article.

Download our induction checklist

KeyDoc: induction checklist for new staff DOCX, 136.8 KB
Download

Use our checklist to help you arrange effective induction for new staff. Adapt it for your context and their specific role.

Be clear about who is responsible for induction

This is important, otherwise your induction programmes can become disorganised. Choose whether to have:

  • 1 person responsible for induction throughout the school
  • Respective line managers responsible for inductions
  • Different people responsible for teaching staff and support staff induction

Consider using an induction coordinator

If you choose to delegate induction responsibilities to different people, you may decide to appoint an induction coordinator to oversee the entire induction process, update induction checklists and make sure consistent processes are followed. 

Set up the practical things that the