The way headteachers are assessed has changed, but the results remain the same: only 8 out of 7,099 failed

July draws to a close with plenty of good news for headteachers. Following the Cabinet’s approval on Thursday 23rd of the 2022–24 National Collective Labour Agreement, which will bring headteachers average pay rises of 500 euros and back pay of up to 6,000 euros, the results of last year’s performance appraisal (for the 2024/25 academic year) have also been released. A further €6,000 or so in performance-related pay depends on these results. Despite the change in the system – which has removed the link to schools’ complexity bands and tied the bonus to the achievement of central and regional targets, partly to avoid a ‘blanket’ distribution – the figures are almost overwhelming. Out of 7,099 cases examined, only eight (0.11 per cent) failed to meet the minimum threshold of 30 points out of 100. The remaining 7,091 passed.

During a meeting held a few days ago on Viale Trastevere, the Ministry of Education and Merit informed the trade unions that 6,114 headteachers (i.e. 86 per cent of the total) had been rated ‘excellent’, whilst 883 received a ‘good’ rating and 94 were rated ‘satisfactory’. In addition to the eight who were rated ‘unsatisfactory’, as mentioned earlier. The Ministry also added that in 711 cases, a request for a hearing was made, followed by 66 requests to initiate conciliation proceedings before the guarantee body. In 38 of these cases, a favourable opinion was issued in favour of amending the score, which was accepted by the directors of the regional education offices.

During the same meeting, the assessment for the school year just ended (2025/2026) and for the next one (2026/27) was also discussed. On the first point, some technical guidance was provided, highlighting that the platform is still open to allow the administration itself to update data during the verification phase and to enable those concerned to enter any details not automatically detected by the system. It was further specified that this can be done until 7 September and that the entire process must be completed by November 2026.

On the second front, initial details were shared regarding the new targets currently under consideration. This applies both to the national targets (which account for 70/100) and to those defined at regional level (accounting for 10/100). Among the new developments, the most notable are the targets relating to schools’ contribution to pupils’ educational success, the strengthening of consistency between schools’ self-evaluation reports (the RAV) and the Three-Year Educational Programme (PTOF), and the diversity of assessment at regional level. However, the trade unions have expressed their concerns. Uil Scuola, for example, has pointed out that the new targets do not take sufficient account of the specific characteristics of Adult Education Centres (CPIA), whilst Cisl Scuola has criticised the significant differences emerging between the various regions and the lack of assessments graded on a percentage basis in relation to complex objectives. And who knows – perhaps their concerns will be taken on board.