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Education secretary Michael Gove’s plans to create a performance-related pay system for teachers has met with negativity from unions, who argue that it is simply too difficult to devise a fair system to link individual pupil achievements to teacher performance.

The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), which covers England and Wales, has been asked by the Department for Education to look at “reducing rigidity” within the pay system. It is due to report on September the 28th and its remit includes making recommendations on linking pay to performance and introducing regionalised pay – linking pay to local private sector rates instead of a national standardised pay scale.

In his formal evidence to the review, published this week, Mr Gove argues that pay arrangements should reward good performance in the classroom and says that this will attract the “highest performing graduates and professionals” into teaching. He also said the pay system should “ensure the best teachers are incentivised to work in the most challenging schools”.

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “The range and complexity of factors influencing how well pupils do at school make it far too difficult to devise a fair system to link an individual teachers’ performance to a pupil’s achievements, not least because so much teaching is based on teamwork.”

Plans for regionalised pay could see teacher salaries in some areas of the UK drop by up to 18% as they would fall into line with local private sector rates.

Any recommendations from the STRB could be taken forward in time for September 2013.