I believe your headline “Damning verdict on performance pay” is misleading. There is a far more positive way of interpreting Exeter University’s study. The verification process was thorough and proved that generally the standards of work of experienced teachers are very good. This is why 97 per cent of applicants swept through the threshold. In only 71 out of 19,183 applications did the scrutineers disagree with the headteachers’ judgments. This is a clear indication that the headteachers know their staff and their abilities.

As a profession we should be celebrating the success of all the teachers who crossed the threshold and the success of a thorough verification process which spent hundreds of thousands of hours scrutinising evidence of their work. This was achieved without the disruption and nervous tension which would have been suffered by teachers if the majority were observed teaching. A strategy which would also have taken longer and been more costly.

Haydn Webb
MA MCIPD Threshold Assessor,
Lewes,
East Sussexnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;