Proposed changes to the Blue Book’s probationary period in light of the Employment Rights Act 2025
Reduction in unfair dismissal qualifying period
From 1st January 2027, the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal claims will reduce from two years to six months under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The Government has confirmed that the protection will apply immediately to employees who have already accrued six months' service by 1st January 2027
For schools and academy trusts, the practical significance of this change cannot be overstated.
Why does this matter now?
Although the changes do not take effect until 1st January 2027, schools recruiting today are already being impacted.
Any employee appointed on or after 1st July 2026 will have accrued six months' continuous service by 1st January 2027 and will therefore gain protection against ordinary unfair dismissal from that date. This means staff recruited during the current academic year will acquire unfair dismissal rights far sooner than schools may be accustomed to.
Schools can no longer rely on what many employers historically viewed as the "two-year safety net" when dealing with concerns about suitability, capability or conduct in new recruits. Once an employee reaches six months' service, focus will need to be on the dismissal being for a potentially fair reason and supported by a fair process.
Probationary periods have never been more important
The legislation does not create mandatory probationary periods. However, the reduction in the unfair dismissal qualifying period means that probationary arrangements will become one of the most important risk management tools available to employers.
For schools, this means ensuring probation is not treated as a simple administrative exercise. Instead, managers should be:
Where schools wait until the end of a probationary period to consider performance concerns, they may find that the employee has already acquired unfair dismissal protection. As a result, any dismissal could require a far more formal process than would previously have been the case.
What are the proposed changes to the probationary period within the Blue Book?
We understand approval has been granted to change the length of the probationary period within the Bluebook from 6 months, to a 3-month probation period with a 1 or 2 month potential extension depending on the circumstances.
The indication is this will be operational from 1st October 2026.
We await formal guidance on this from KCC, and up until 1st October 2026 the current rules under the Blue Book, and the 6-month time limit still apply. Schools and Trusts therefore need to be focusing on the management of those current 6 months probationary periods as detailed below.
What should schools be doing now?
Schools and trusts should be reviewing their recruitment and probation processes. In particular they should consider:
✔ Whether managers understand the upcoming unfair dismissal changes.
✔ Whether probation review meetings are taking place frequently enough.
✔ Whether concerns are being documented clearly and consistently.
✔ Whether probation periods remain appropriate in light of the new six-month qualifying period.
✔ Whether managers have sufficient training to address performance concerns at an early stage.
Key message
The unfair dismissal reforms may not take effect until January 2027, but schools should not wait until then to act.
Recruitment decisions being made now will determine whether new employees have unfair dismissal protection from day one of implementation. The schools that are best prepared will be those that use the remainder of 2026 to strengthen probationary arrangements, train managers and ensure concerns are identified and addressed at the earliest opportunity.
In short: probationary periods are about to become one of the most important employment law compliance issues for schools
Employment Rights Act 20025 Implementation and Training Service >>
Episode 2: Practical considerations of changes to the law of unfair dismissal, performance reviews and managing probationary periods, is now live ready to watch and full of practical guidance to stay compliant, in the episode we take a practical look at:
If you have any queries regarding the above, please do not hesitate to get in touch info@hrconnect.org.uk