U-turn on school bonuses

Education ministers say the cost is not justified

School staff in England are no longer going to get bonuses if their schools do well in terms of test and exam results.

The government is scrapping the controversial annual achievement awards, which have cost £60m a year over three years.

It says an evaluation shows "no hard evidence about the scheme's continuing impact on teaching and learning, and school improvement".

The scheme was introduced despite strong opposition from teacher unions.

Controversy heightened in the first round of awards when it emerged that £2m in bonuses had been paid to about 300 schools by mistake.

Divided up

Overall, almost 14,000 schools have won awards - often more than once.

The average amounts were £25,700 in secondary schools and £5,700 in primaries, with schools then deciding how best to split the cash among the teaching and non-teaching staff.

The amounts they get are subject to tax and national insurance.

The official evaluation study found that 75% of staff in the award-winning schools were satisfied with the scheme.

But the government has decided that, with school budgets in crisis, shifting money into staff bonus schemes is "not justified".

The original funding for the scheme was approved as part of the spending review in 2000 to support the annual allocation of funds in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

'Burying bad news'

The Department for Education and Skills said on Thursday: "Ministers have concluded that it would not be appropriate to divert further funds for additional years of the scheme."

The School Standards Minister, David Miliband, said: "Schools which have won awards should be justifiably proud of their achievements.

"However, the priority for funding is school budgets, and the evidence of today's report is that a shift of money into School Achievement Awards is not justified."

The shadow education secretary, Damian Green, said: "We can chalk this up as yet another failed education initiative from this government.

"It is obvious that the spirit of Jo Moore lives on," he added, in a reference to the former government adviser who suggested that 11 September 2001 was a "good day to bury bad news".

"I note that the day the prime minister gives evidence to the Hutton Inquiry, the government chooses to announce this embarrassing U-turn on performance related pay," Mr Green said.

The head of education at the National Union of Teachers, John Bangs, said: "It is a fundamental sign of the school funding crisis that they should use the Jo Moore principle and get it out today."