Successful colleges value all groups of staff and recognise that everybody’s work counts towards excellent service delivery. TPI threatens to undermine that “single staff” approach by confining TPI largely to teaching staff, and undervaluing the work of other staff. In their drive to raise standards, good college managers aim to build a common purpose, shared goals and agreed standards among staff. But TPI subverts that by implying that only the work of teaching staff influences student achievement.

TPI sends out a message to a large proportion of college staff that their contribution to students’ success is not valued or significant. Not only does this divide and undermine a shared mission, it’s also plain wrong. Reception staff are often the first and decisive point of contact for the unconfident adult learner who is exploring whether a college is somewhere they’ll feel emotionally and culturally comfortable. The buildings manager responsible for disabled access has a direct input in the achievement and pleasure of learning among students in wheelchairs, or students with visual impairment. The administrative staff member who helps a student sort out their examination entries plays a role in their success. Any college could quote a long list of examples.

Colleges, like so many enterprises from banks to borough councils, have worked hard these past few years to foster a “client focus” ethos among staff. Staff are now aware that colleges must be led by the needs of learners, rather than expecting learners to kowtow to time-honoured structures and arrangements of the organisation. This has been achieved by persuading all staff that a learner-centred approach contributes directly to the likelihood of students staying on and achieving a qualification.

The Association for College Management, working with other unions and the Association of Colleges, is developing a modified framework for a Colleges’ Pay Initiative. The revised framework proposes extra criteria for the awards so that all staff - teaching, learning support, business, administrative, managerial and manual - will have access to the initiative and may be rewarded for good professional practice. ACM will add their voice to a campaign to convince ministers of the urgent funding needs for an inclusive pay initiative based on this new model.

A bonus of the proposed new framework is that it introduces a basic skills criterion to encourage colleges to offer their least-qualified and least-skilled staff a chance to practise basic skills and achieve new basic skills qualifications.

ACM and the Government have a common cause: we want our students to succeed. To achieve that we must value and reward the high-quality practice of all staff.

Nadine Cartner is education officer Association for College Management