Performance Related Pay (PRP)

The History of Appraisal and PRP

Performance Related Pay (PRP) was introduced in schools in 2014. Until that time, pay progression was essentially based on being ‘time served’ and the pay scale points of staff were uplifted at the end of the year.

So you turned up for the year and (as long as you avoided getting into trouble) you got a pay award. These individual pay points were specified for schools as well, so it was simple; not really that much for SLT to think about. Appraisal, or ‘Performance Management’, was certainly a process, but not connected intrinsically to what you got paid. It was…’developmental’.

With the arrival of PRP, Appraisal now became a process against which to measure success against specific targets to inform decisions on pay uplifts inline with the school’s pay policy. This was a fundamental change. And, this along with subsequent changes to the Pay and Conditions Document which removed the designated pay points as well, it felt a new landscape. The most common approach by schools was to have at least one data driven numerical target for staff to meet. Sometimes this was created by the Line Manager or a favourite ‘data analytics package’ that directed what a good result looked like for the class or year group.

In its 33rd Report in 2023, the School Teachers Pay Review body suggested that PRP in schools should be withdrawn. So changes have been a while in the making.

The Concerns with PRP

Concerns of course have been around for a long time. Broadly speaking they are largely two fold. 

Firstly, that at an administrative level this is burdensome for the leadership of the school and, as the Government Task force reported, “works poorly in practice and does not have a commensurate positive impact on teaching and learning” [Jan 2024 Workload Reduction Taskforce: Initial Recommendations]

Secondly, for individual staff it created additional workload which often centred around those data driven targets. (staff possibly had developmental targets too, but the key stressors often centered around ‘what the data says“). Teachers would report that there were factors outside their control affecting the outcomes of classes such as exclusions, timetable quirks, trips, visits, absence, etc. As a result the data then created (and measured) made the whole data target setting a fundamentally unfair process. It is often cited that teaching is not done in isolation and is in fact ‘a team game’. What everyone else does impacts how your class performs over time.

The task force went on to say, in Jan 2024, that “We want to ensure that school leaders are able to support, develop and reward their staff in the least burdensome way, removing the bureaucratic requirement to run the PRP system”. 

Resetting the dial

On 29th July 2024, the new Labour Education Secretary released a statement following announcements by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, relating to Pay Review Bodies.

Their 34th report, stated that “Changes to guidance on appraisal and pay progression should be published as a priority” [STRB July 2024]

On accepting the Pay Review Body recommendations in July, this allowed the Education Secretary to reinforce the commitments to workload reduction in discussions about both PRP and PPA time.

In her Statement the Education Secretary said:

“In addition to the pay award, we will be making some changes to school teachers’ terms and conditions to address some immediate issues, as part of our broader ambition to make work pay and ensure a more productive workforce. This includes removing the requirement for schools to use Performance Related Pay to reduce the workload burdens that this can have on some schools”. [Teachers Update: July 2024] 

Who does this apply to?

This applies to Maintained schools who must follow the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD). Many staff in Academies work under STPCD and so are likely to see some changes to the approaches taken in their appraisal structures. If this is not the case then the terms and conditions of employment may of course be different, as it may be in independent schools.

The New Guidance

The new guidance is here Teacher appraisal Guidance for schools.

Schools will now look at both Appraisal and Pay Policies to ensure they are in line with guidance as it applies to their terms and conditions. The tone of the new approach will depend entirely on the wording and thinking behind the new policies.

Have we seen the last of this particular bullet point in Appraisal Policy Paperwork: “A recommendation on any pay progression“? Let’s see.

Edapt’s guide to the Appraisal process is here

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