Is pay progress from M1 to M2 to M3 an expected, annual thing, please?

[LeatherTuscadero]

In a comprehensive school.
what would prevent annual progress?
or do different schools handle it in their own ways?
if I don’t progress to the next level next academic year, is that unusual?

Not unusual at all. It used to be fairly automatic, if you did a decent job you progressed on an annual basis. Then budgets impacted and pay reviews became increasingly difficult. Some schools moved to 2 yearly progress ( either blatantly or surreptitiously) targets became increasingly difficult to meet and teacher found themselves ' stuck' on the same increment for years! Can't see that this years non funded pay increase would have helped.

Information on pay progression should be set out in your school's pay policy.

Thank you both.

Depends if you are an accademy or LA moreso than comprehensive vs grammar etc.

I would say in most LA schools, M1 > M2 is still pretty automatic if you progress, and M2 > M3 is automatic as long as you pass ECT.

I believe some MATs have taken the view that all ECTs stay on M1 until they pass. And some will have a PMR cycle that's longer than a year. But in a MAT your school should have a specific pay policy and some do still go M1 > M2 > M3 fairly easily.

In MATs, pay awards have to go via the trustees, so it's worth bearing in mind that your increase to the next pay point tends not to come through until November or December- it is back dated but IME a lot of the backdated pay gets eaten by tax/student loans etc.

Also, do check in a MAT what they are actually paying for M1 etc- many have not given the 5% increase yet.

Yes MATs can reduce the speed at which you progress up the pay points, but that should only happen if PM targets have not been met. If performance has been satisfactory, progression should happen. ECTs don't generally have PM targets, but satisfactory progression as an ECT should suffice, passing your ECT years certainly would. If they'd keep you on as a teacher, you should progress! If it looks like you might not meet your targets, that should be identified early, and if there's good reason they can be changed. If you find yourself working for a school that doesn't apply pay point progression as a semi-automatic process, there'll be plenty of schools to move to who do....