How the teacher capability procedure works

A capability procedure is the formal process a school uses when a teacher has persistently failed to meet the required standard of work and appraisal and informal support have not fixed it. The Department for Education’s July 2024 guidance for England says a teacher should not normally be placed on one without first receiving a period of informal support, and gives six weeks as an example of a minimum. The guidance is non-statutory, but all maintained schools must have a capability policy.

Appraisal and informal support come first

Capability sits after appraisal. The DfE says concerns should be picked up in appraisal, with focused support such as coaching, mentoring or structured observation. Informal support should have clear objectives and timelines, taking into account your circumstances, including any medical conditions, working pattern or disability. Consequences of not improving should be confirmed in writing.

The exception is the most serious cases of persistent failure with negative effects on pupils and the school, where a school can go straight to the formal stage. Misconduct is a different route. The guidance says disciplinary procedures are triggered by misconduct or breach of professional standards, and the two can run at the same time where the facts call for it. The disciplinary guide covers that process.

The formal stages in the model policy

The model policy runs like this:

1. Formal capability meeting. You get at least five working days’ notice (a figure schools may change), the concerns and copies of written evidence. The meeting sets out the standards you are said to have missed and lets you respond. Evidence is presented and you can ask questions and present your own. If a warning follows, you get clear guidance on the improvement needed, the support available, a timetable and how performance will be monitored.
2. Monitoring and review period. Support continues while performance is monitored.
3. Formal review meeting. If improvement is enough, the procedure ends and appraisal restarts. If there has been some progress, the period may be extended. If not enough, a final written warning follows.
4. Decision meeting. If performance is acceptable the procedure ends. If not, the decision is to extend the warning, dismiss, or require the teacher to stop working at the school. The guidance says redeployment may be considered where appropriate and possible.
5. Appeal. The model gives five days to appeal in writing against dismissal or other action. The appeal is heard by people not previously involved.

At every formal meeting you have the right to be accompanied by a colleague, a trade union official or a certified union representative. Notes are taken and a copy sent to you. If you cannot attend, you are entitled to reasonably request another date.

Pay, sickness and grievances

While you are on the capability procedure, the DfE says pay progression should be withheld. The 2026 pay and conditions document allows schools that have dropped performance-related pay to withhold progression only when a teacher is in capability proceedings. See the appraisal and pay progression guide.

If long-term sickness absence looks to have been triggered by the start of monitoring, the guidance says the case should go through the school’s absence policy, for example with an immediate occupational health referral. In some cases monitoring may continue during absence. Your sick pay entitlement is separate: see the teachers’ sick pay guide.

A grievance raised during capability may pause the procedure, or the two may be dealt with together if they are related.

Who decides, and the references issue

In maintained schools the governing board decides on dismissal, though it can delegate that to the headteacher or to governors. In community, voluntary-controlled and maintained nursery schools the local authority is the employer and may send a representative to all dismissal proceedings, and its advice must be considered. In a community school the model says the authority must dismiss within 14 days of being notified of the decision. Academy trusts set their own arrangements, so read your trust’s policy.

One consequence stays with you. If you have been through formal capability procedures in the previous two years, the guidance says that must be disclosed to new potential employers when they ask.

What to check

• Get your school’s capability and appraisal policies, and see whether informal support was documented.
• Find out whether your union can send a rep to formal meetings with you.
• Keep copies of every letter, the notes of meetings and any support plan.
• The Acas helpline and the early conciliation guide explain next steps if you think a dismissal was unfair.