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Following on with the seven key areas of activity:
- The Business Plan
- Creating a Project Board
- College Preparatory Work
- Engagement of a Job Evaluation Scheme provider to carry out the role evaluations.
- Completion of Robust Job Descriptions
- Pay and Grading
- Appeals
There are a number of these key activities which are being progressed since the last update was provided.
As of December 2025, there has been the creation of a Job Evaluation Project Board (JEPB). Further, the college preparatory work has moved forward with all colleges having since completed a Job Evaluation Sector Survey, whereby each college has provided a breakdown of data relating to the number of roles required to be evaluated via Job Evaluation.
We mentioned in the previous update that it was the intention to prepare the Business Case and thereafter submit this to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Scottish Government for approval, however, further to a number of emails between the CES Team and the SFC, a meeting was arranged for 3 December 2025.
The Scottish Government/SFC now require that an independent Lessons Learned review be carried out to ensure confidence in the process going forward, that the project will deliver and that there will be no issues with implementation of Job Evaluation as there were before.
An initial scope of the review has now been received and the time parameters for the Lessons Learned have been confirmed as 6-10 weeks as from March 2026 to apply the procurement process to appoint an independent hearing authority and thereafter the preferred candidate(s) to conduct the investigation and final report which we do not know the timescales for.
Finally, whilst we await the conclusion of the Lessons Learned review process the CES Team and Trade Union colleagues continue to explore preparatory work required for Job Evaluation and we will of course continue to provide regular updates, as and when we have further relevant information to share.
Back in June, we explained that the National Job Evaluation Project was being jointly progressed across seven key areas of activity:
- The Business Plan
- Creating a Project Board and Governance structure
- College Preparatory Work
- Engagement of a Job Evaluation Scheme provider to carry out the role evaluations
- Completion of Robust Job Descriptions
- Pay and Grading
- Appeals.
Work has been progressing behind the scenes on all of these activities over the last few months, with the main focus being gathering all of the information and costings required to complete the Business Case. This Business Case is an essential document, setting out what the project is about, the benefits of it, and the details on how it will be delivered and how much the project is expected to cost.
We are targeting that the Business Case should be drafted by around mid-September, and then after being agreed between the Trade Unions and the College Employers, it will be submitted to the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government for approval of the funding.
With approval of funding secured, the project can move on to gathering the evidence around role evaluation, which is based on robust Job Descriptions, and many of you will be involved in that, in the coming months. With thousands of roles across the college sector to be evaluated, current and historical, that will be a very large undertaking, but as those begin to be produced, analysis can then commence with the support of expert external resource.
Invariably, as there always are with projects of this scale, there are challenges and hurdles to be addressed, and we are facing some of those, for example we have recently understood that external procurement aspects of the project will require new submissions, but that is no less than is appropriate where public money is funding the project. Also, as the project has a long history, dating back to 2018, understanding all of the roles that require evaluating and the changes to roles, new and evolved, over that time that also need evaluating is a complex exercise, but the colleges are underway with that.
With members of support staff from UNISON and Unite recently voting in favour of progressing National Job Evaluation, on the terms set out in their ballots, preparatory work is now underway. A comprehensive Project Plan has been developed with the key areas of activity being:
1. The Business Plan
2. Creating a Project Board and Governance structure
3. College Preparatory Work
4. Engagement of Educational Competences Consortium (ECC) to carry out the role evaluations
5. Completion of Questionnaires and Job Evaluation
6. Pay and Grading
7. Appeals.
The first, and most important step in this timeline is to release the funding promised by the Scottish Government. This funding is required to support the cost of delivering the project and for adjustments that may be required to current salaries, and of course for back payments where due. This funding can only be released following submission of a full business case and joint work on that is underway with direction and guidance from the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government.
The scale of the project should not be underestimated; it is a major undertaking. To enable the project to be carried out as professionally and swiftly as possible we are intending to engage the professional services of the ECC to carry out the evaluations. ECC’s team of staff are highly experienced and qualified to conduct this activity, however, even with ECC on board we expect the project to last around 18 – 24 months.
Before ECC can begin their evaluations, colleges need to undertake work to ensure that Job Descriptions are up to date and mapping is completed on all staff and roles held since September 2018. This local college preparatory work is already underway.
UNISON and Unite are currently seeking interest from members wishing to be involved at local college level assisting their colleagues with the process of completing the questionnaires and other stages of the project and have had a positive response from their members indicating support staff are keen to support the project.
It is sincerely appreciated that support staff have been incredibly patient and understanding over the many years since this project was first agreed. While to date there has been no tangible outcome, the project has now recommenced and will be delivered. We trust that staff will continue to show their continued support and patience as the project now gets underway.
Following the last update in February 2025, discussions between the Support Staff Trade Unions and the employers have continued to take place.
These discussions led to the Support Staff Trade Unions undertaking consultative ballots of their members on the terms of the National Job Evaluation Project. When these ballots closed UNISON and Unite members overwhelmingly backed the resumption of the project. The GMB stated that their member ballot outcome, found the proposal was insufficient.
The employers discussed the ballot outcomes at meetings on 14 May and 21 May 2025 and agreed to proceed with the work required to deliver National Job Evaluation. The GMB will continue to be invited to participate in these discussions.
The next step in this project will be to continue work on a draft timeline at a joint employers’ and support staff trade unions working group to focus on the detail of the project which will then be used to develop a full Business Case which will be taken to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Scottish Government for review and approval.
It has also been agreed that colleges will be asked to begin preparatory work to map job history from 2018, ensure Job Descriptions and Organisation Charts are updated and confirm the number of roles to be evaluated. This information will also be used to develop the Business Case.
Please note, the Scottish Government has confirmed in an article in The Herald the following:
“The Scottish Government remains committed to the colleges job evaluation project. Backdated pay, when agreed, will be distributed to colleges via the standard SFC allocations process. It is our expectation that this spend will be monitored through the reporting and audit processes already in place between Colleges and the Scottish Funding Council.”
It is anticipated, the next joint update will be provided when the Business Case is issued to the SFC and Scottish Government.
Following the last update in August 2024, discussions between the Support Staff Trade Unions and the employers have continued. Both sides are committed to making progress and delivering on the commitment to the Job Evaluation Project.
All agree that it is unfortunate that the project had become delayed and stalled in unnecessary complications. Further, both sides agree it is important for there to be a shared objective and outcome for the project before further work is undertaken.
On that basis, constructive talks have taken place on the use of the historical Job Evaluation data. In these discussions it has become clear, and supported by advice from experts, that due to the passage of time, the inevitable change in work content, and concerns from historical sampling audits, that the previous evaluation and scoring of roles cannot be considered reliable.
It is fundamental to any Job Evaluation Project that the data used must be up to date and an accurate analysis of job content, therefore, employers and trade unions are now exploring options for current data collection and analysis to ensure the integrity of the project.
Finally, although it is well understood that Job Evaluation does not equate to the harmonisation of pay for jobs across different employers, work is being undertaken in partnership to aid meaningful negotiations on the appropriate application of Job Evaluation outcomes to pay structures.