Rushed performance-pay plans will leave schools ‘vulnerable’

A legal expert has warned that the timescale for performance-related pay reforms could leave some schools in “a vulnerable position”.

By September, every school must have revised pay and appraisal policies in place detailing how pay progression is to be linked to teachers’ performance based on annual appraisals.

However, official guidance issued by the Department for Education (DfE) this week has been labelled a “bureaucratic nightmare” by teachers, while one headteachers’ union is publishing its own model pay policy to help school leaders cope.

The DfE has sent its guidance to all schools, alongside a revised version of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). The changes come into effect after the September 2013 pay progression is complete. The first performance-linked pay rises will be awarded from September 2014.