Schools are no longer expected to link pay to the performance of teachers thanks to the Workload Reduction Taskforce. But was it ever a feasible approach? And what are primary school leaders planning to do now? Suzanne O'Connell takes a look
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The Workload Reduction Taskforce, earlier this year, recommended the removal of performance-related pay (PRP). The government agreed and said that it would be replaced from this term with “a less bureaucratic way to manage performance fairly and transparently”.

In announcing this year’s pay award of 5.5%, the Department for Education confirmed: “Schools will no longer be required to use the PRP system, which can lead to schools and teachers going through an overly bureaucratic process to agree individual teachers’ pay rises. This will help improve teacher workload.” (DfE, 2024a).

However, it is uncertain just how many schools will jettison PRP – and to what extent and how quickly – especially with academy schools continuing to have freedom over their pay and conditions.

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