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'Significant workload burden’ – taskforce scraps performance-related pay

Appraisal & PM Pay and conditions Teaching staff Workload Trade unions Recruitment & Retention Government policy
The Workload Reduction Taskforce has agreed 18 initial recommendations as part of its goal to reduce teachers’ working time by five hours a week, including an end to performance-related pay (PRP) and a new list of banned admin tasks.
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The system of PRP is to be replaced from September this year with “a less bureaucratic way to manage performance fairly and transparently”.

Meanwhile, the list of administrative tasks that teachers should not be carrying out is to be updated and reinserted into the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).

There is also a revised “preamble” to this list, setting out three key tests for any admin task, beginning with: “Does it need to be done at all?”

The taskforce has drafted both the preamble and an updated list containing 23 such tasks (produced in full below). The previous list of 21 tasks was removed from the STPCD around 10 years ago.

The taskforce has also set out a further 15 recommendations, mainly for the Department for Education (DfE) but also some for schools and Ofsted, that aim to:

  • Strengthen the implementation of the three 2016 Workload Review Group reports, which made a range of recommendations for workload-reduction relating to marking, data management, and planning.
  • Maximise school sign-up for the government’s Staff Wellbeing Charter – only 3,000 schools have adopted the charter since its launch in 2021. The charter includes 11 school commitments to that support staff wellbeing.

These recommendations include Ofsted updating its “Clarification for schools” myth-busting document “re-emphasising what is not required around marking, planning and data, and communicating it clearly to schools and trusts as well as publicly”.

The Workload Reduction Taskforce was set-up as part of the negotiated settlement that ended last year’s teacher strike action. It has seen the four major education unions – ASCL, NEU, NASUWT and NAHT – working with the DfE to reach agreement across a range of areas.

The taskforce is committed to reducing the average working hours for teachers and schools leaders by five hours a week within the next three years. It is due to make final recommendations by the end of March and in the interim report its forthcoming areas of focushave been set-out, including:

  • The unintended consequences of accountability and inspection.
  • Consideration of the adverse impact on workload of contractual provisions within the STPCD.
  • Consideration of non-administrative tasks that do not require teachers’ input.

The taskforce will also be considering in-school practices such as behaviour policies, curriculum planning and marking/assessment.

 

The end of PRP… but what comes next?

There has been broad welcome to the news that PRP is to be replaced from September, although many will be waiting to see what the replacement looks like.

The taskforce’s recommendations referred to the “significant administrative/workload burden of performance-related pay”.

The report states: “There are concerns that PRP works poorly in practice and does not have a commensurate positive impact on teaching and learning.

“The taskforce recommends a formal commitment to consult with statutory consultees on PRP with a view to removal in line with the School Teachers’ Review Body’s observation and in time for the 2024/25 academic year.”

The foreword to the recommendations, signed by schools minister Damian Hinds and the general secretaries of the four unions, states: “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.

“We accept the recommendation that the requirement for PRP should be removed and replaced with a less bureaucratic way to manage performance fairly and transparently.”

It sets out plans for a “rapid government and trade unions review” of current guidance surrounding appraisal and performance management in order to “facilitate a replacement for PRP being in place from September 1, 2024”.

It pledges to publish details of these changes in the spring to allow schools “sufficient notice” to prepare for September implementation.

A joint statement from the NAHT, ASCL, and NEU following the publication of the initial recommendations said that it has become “increasingly clear” that PRP does not work in education and drives “unnecessary workload and bureaucracy for leaders and teachers alike”.

It adds: “Its removal is a positive step. We will now work closely with the DfE to ensure that any updated guidance replacing it is fit for purpose and reduces workload burdens.”

A statement from the NASUWT, meanwhile, said that PRP had proved to be “highly workload intensive and resulted in significant and widespread unfairness”.

It adds: “We look forward to agreeing with the government new guidance for schools to ensure that teacher performance is managed fairly and transparently.”

The initial recommendations of the taskforce come as the DfE has unveiled a three-year mental health and wellbeing initiative aimed at supporting school staff.

This is to include professional supervision and counselling support for 2,500 school leaders,

The DfE has also pledged to publish new guidance – expected it says this spring – on how to prevent and tackle the bullying and harassment of school staff.

 

Annex: The updated example list of administrative tasks

The following list of tasks that teachers should not be carrying out has been drafted by the Workload Reduction Taskforce and put forward for reinsertion into the STPCD.

The joint statement from the NAHT, ASCL, and NEU emphasised that this list is “non-exhaustive” and “better reflects how schools operate in 2024”.

It adds: “The update is only a very small part of the work that now needs to take place if we are to begin to see the reductions in workload we all aspire to.”

The NASUWT added: “We now expect rapid action to get this updated version of the list reinstated formally.”

  1. Managing data and transferring data about pupils into school management systems (e.g. Question Level Analysis) or printing electronic records for paper filing.
  2. Reformatting data or re-entry of data into multiple systems.
  3. Production of photographic evidence of practical lessons e.g. for assessment purposes or to ‘evidence’ learning.
  4. Creation or duplication of files and paperwork perceived to be required in anticipation of inspection, such as copies of evidence portfolios, or regularly updated seating plans.
  5. Administration or data analysis relating to wraparound care and preparation of food/meals.
  6. Administration of public and internal examinations.
  7. Collating pupil reports e.g. reports of pupil examination results.
  8. Producing and collating analyses of attendance figures.
  9. Investigating a pupil's absence
  10. Responsibility for producing, copying, uploading and distributing bulk communications to parents and pupils, including standard letters, school policies, posts on electronic platforms.
  11. Administration relating to school visits, trips and residentials (including booking venues, collecting forms and recording lunch requirements) and of work experience (but not selecting placements and supporting pupils by advice or visits).
  12. Organisation, decoration and assembly of the physical classroom space e.g. moving classrooms, moving classroom furniture, putting up and taking down classroom displays.
  13. Ordering, setting up and maintaining ICT equipment, software, and virtual learning environments (VLEs), including adding pupils to VLEs and online subscription platforms.
  14. Ordering supplies and equipment.
  15. Cataloguing, preparing, issuing, stocktaking, and maintaining materials and equipment, or logging the absence of such.
  16. Collecting money from pupils and parents.
  17. Administration of cover for absent teachers.
  18. Co-ordinating and submitting bids (for funding, school status and the like).
  19. Administration of medical consent forms and administering of medication on a routine or day-to-day basis.
  20. Taking, copying, distributing or typing up notes (e.g. verbatim notes) or producing formal minutes.
  21. Producing class lists or physical copies of context sheets.
  22. Keeping and filing paper or electronic records and data e.g. in school management systems or physical office files.
  23. Bulk photocopying.