The Department for Education announced that School teachers and leaders will receive a fully funded 5.5% pay award effective 1 September 2024. The decision means the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), which was published on 29th July 2024, have been accepted in full.

• The pay award applies to maintained schools, with academies continuing to have freedom over their pay and conditions
• Alongside the pay award, the requirement for schools to use the performance related pay system (PRP) process will be removed from September
• The DRAFT STPCD states that a recommendation on pay must be made in writing as part of the individual’s appraisal report
• Schools that chooses to retain performance related pay, as set out in their pay policy, may decide to withhold progression for reasons related to poor performance
• Schools that choose not to retain performance related pay, as set out in their pay policy, may decide to withhold progression if a teacher is in capability proceedings
• Changes to arrangements for PPA are also covered in the DRAFT STPCD so that  'Where reasonably appropriate and agreed by both the individual teacher and the relevant body, PPA can be taken in one weekly unit and it can be taken away from the school site'

A copy of the DRAFT STPCD 2024 has been provided to statutory consultees for a period of consultation ending mid-October when the final version of the STPCD 2024 is expected to be laid before parliament on 18 October passing into law on 9 November with pay awards backdated to 1 September.

HR Customers can access a range of updated resources including:

Guidance on the 2024 Pay Award

DRAFT Teachers' Pay Ranges and Allowances 2024

DRAFT Template Pay Policies 2024/5

The Department for Education published several new guidance documents which will be effective from 1 September relating to Teacher Appraisal  & Capability. Previously appraisal and capability guidelines were published as one document: 'Teacher appraisal and capability: a model policy for schools'  it has now been separated into two separate guidance documents.

The updated guidance:

• Highlights the 'supportive and developmental' nature of the appraisal process as a 'safe environment' where 'open and honest conversations' can be had
• Places the focus clearly on high-quality CPD suggesting that this should form a key part of teacher objectives with the dual goal of helping to improve pupil outcomes and provide a more attractive career offer encouraging entrants to the profession and teachers within it to stay for longer
• Widens the scope of the appraisal process and emphasises the importance of line managers discussing workload, wellbeing, working hours, opportunities for flexible working, and career aspirations within the appraisal meeting giving the school leadership  a clear insight into employees' day-to-day employee experience,  and to inform future actions to enhance staff retention at a school level
• Clearly splits the responsibilities of leaders, teachers, and governors for tasks within the process with a requirement to ensure all staff using the procedure are adequately trained, and a focus on keeping records of decisions made in a way that avoids an increase in workload
• Reminds schools of their duty of care to protect staff health, safety, and welfare and of the need to consider staff wellbeing when setting objectives
• Provides a clear timeline of the appraisal cycle for schools to follow 
• Contains new detailed guidance on managing any period of  'informal support' where an employee's performance falls below required standards and managing the movement between informal support and the Capability procedure where necessary
• Clarifies that underperformance should be managed within a capability procedure with a disciplinary procedure reserved for use in cases of misconduct or failing to uphold professional standards
• Includes an optional model policy schools can choose to adopt

You can find a detailed summary of the changes in our latest news item of 1 August.

In light of the changes ahead for Appraisal year 2024/25 we have updated a number of our resources for HR Customers including:

Guidance on Teacher Appraisal Systems in Schools 2024/25

Example Appraisal Policy (Teachers Only) & (All Staff) Appraisal Year 2024/25

Example Teacher Appraisal Report Form 2024/25

Example Headteacher Appraisal Report Form 2024/25

Guidance: Managing Capability Concerns

Example Capability Procedure Maintained Schools valid from 1 September 2024

Example Capability Procedure Academies valid from 1 September 2024

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2024 was published on 24 May (for information purposes only) and will come into force on 1 September 2024. This year there was no consultation period as changes are minimal. Many changes bring KCSIE in line with the Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance (2023).

Changes to Part Three: Safer Recruitment and Part Four: Safeguarding concerns or allegations made about staff, including supply teachers, volunteers, and contractors have the greatest impact on HR processes and procedures however no changes have been made in either section for 2024.

Full details of all the changes can be found in our latest news article of 30 May.

On 16 May 2024 the National Employers made a full and final one-year (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025) pay offer:

• With effect from 1 April 2024, an increase of £1,290 (pro rata for part-time employees) to be paid as a consolidated, permanent addition on all NJC pay points 2 to 43 inclusive. The equivalent percentage increases on spinal column point 2 is 5.77%, and for SCP 43 it is 2.50%
• With effect from 1 April 2024, an increase of 2.5%  on all pay points above the maximum of the pay spine but graded below deputy chief officer (in accordance with Green Book Part 2 Para 5.4)
• With effect from 1 April 2024 an increase of 2.5% on all allowances (as agreed in the 2023 NJC pay agreement circular dated 1 November 2023)

Following the employers’ pay offer to NJC ‘Green Book’ employees in May, the trade unions balloted their members. The results from all three ballots are as follows:

• UNISON members voted 81% to 19%  to reject the NJC ‘Green Book’ pay offer.  On 19th July the union announced that they will conduct a ballot for industrial action, which will run from 4th September to 16th October.
• GMB consultative ballot closed on Friday 5 July, and they made an announcement on 10th July to state that “a majority of GMB members who voted…voted to accept” the employers’ pay offer to NJC ‘Green Book’ employees
• Unite members voted to reject the offer by 85% to 15%.  On 26th July the union announced it will ballot for industrial action and the ballot will run from 27th August to 15th October.

We will update the Support Staff Pay and Allowances pages of the HR Hub as more updates are received.

HR Customers can visit our Legislation Tracker to find a summary of the proposals outlined in the King's Speech at the state opening of Parliament in July.

The scale and breadth of new government's proposal  around employment law are likely to make the next few years extremely busy for employers.

While the Government's large majority should make it easier to get legislation through Parliament, many of the proposals in the Employment Rights Bill will need public consultation.

In particular, there is likely to be consultation on the detailed secondary legislation and/or non-statutory government guidance/statutory codes of practice necessary to implement some of the more substantial changes, including:

• the removal of the two-year service requirement to bring an unfair dismissal claim, which will mean that schools will have to review how they induct, train and manage new recruits and how they deal with employees who are not performing during their probationary period;
• "making flexible working the default from day one for all workers, with employers required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable", which goes significantly further than the flexible working reforms introduced by the previous Government on 6 April 2024; and
• the introduction of mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for larger organisations, which adds significant complexity to the current pay gap reporting regime.

The complexity of many of the proposals, the time required for the Bill's passage through Parliament, and the need for public consultation all mean that we are unlikely to see most of the major legal changes introduced before 2026 at the earliest.

You can now find details of our online training offer for this term below:

Training this term

You can access a range of previously run webinars on demand by clicking here and keep an eye out for details of upcoming webinars using this link too.