Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest NewsPay & benefitsPerformance-related pay

Teaching union condemns performance-related pay proposals

by John Eccleston 1 May 2012
by John Eccleston 1 May 2012

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has described plans to pay teachers on results as “total nonsense”, following the release of a report by the House of Commons Education Committee that looked at methods of recruiting and retaining the best teachers.

The Education Committee’s report, “Great Teachers: attracting, training and retaining the best”, proposed a number of measures aimed at improving the quality of teacher staffing. These included giving sixth-formers the opportunity to “try out” teaching to determine their aptitude, as well as introducing stricter literacy and numeracy requirements for teaching staff and also ensuring that all teaching applicants are observed in the role before they are offered a place.

However, it was the report’s suggestion that teachers could be paid according to results that drew criticism from the NUT.

The report said: “There are, currently, huge differences in teacher performance in the UK; no longer should the weakest teachers be able to hide behind a rigid and unfair pay structure.

“We believe that performance-management systems should support and reward the strongest teachers, as well as make no excuses (or, worse, incentives to remain) for the weaker. Given the profound positive and negative impacts which teachers have on pupil performance, as demonstrated earlier in our report, we are concerned that the pay system continues to reward low-performers at the same levels as their more successful peers.

“We strongly recommend that the Department for Education seeks to quantify what scale of variation in teacher value added equates to in terms of children’s later prospects. We further recommend that the Department develops proposals (based on consultation and a close study of systems abroad) for a pay system which rewards those teachers who add the greatest value to pupil performance.”

In response, Christine Blower, NUT general secretary, said: “Payment by results is total nonsense. Children are not tins of beans and schools are not factory production lines. Successful schools rely on a collegiate approach and teamworking. Performance-related pay (PRP) is not only inappropriate but also divisive. Children and young people differ and class intakes differ from year to year making it impossible to measure progress in simplistic terms. PRP will create even more difficulties for schools facing the most challenges as teachers will realise that they will get no thanks for teaching their students but will get more money by going elsewhere.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“Teaching is becoming increasingly less attractive as a profession for graduates to choose to enter and for those already in it. Unless the Government addresses the issue of pay and pensions as well as a punishingly high workload and accountability system, no amount of ‘marketing’ will convince graduates that teaching is an attractive career.”

For more information on pay and benefits, including data by sector, visit XpertHR.

John Eccleston

previous post
Case of the week: Parker Rhodes Hickmotts Solicitors v Harvey
next post
Young people want access to employers to improve career prospects

You may also like

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

Ryanair demands flight attendants pay back salary increase

21 May 2025

Consultation launched after Supreme Court ‘sex’ ruling

20 May 2025

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

UK and EU agree to collaborate on ‘youth...

19 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+