MyAppraisal Boycott FAQs
What is the agreed purpose for appraisals at UCL?
Is an appraisal a performance or capability process?
Why is UCL UCU concerned about MyAppraisal?
What advice does UCL UCU have for members regarding MyAppraisal?
I have been told that I have to use the online form for my appraisal; what should I do?
Where can I find the current paper-based appraisal forms?
How can paper-based forms be recorded?
Who should be able to access appraisal forms?
If I started to use MyAppraisal before the branch began discussing it, and then paused it due to concerns and/or the branch motion, what should I do? And does my partially completed form remain on the system or can I remove it?
Can I raise my particular support needs, e.g. for reasonable adjustments, on MyAppraisal?
Is it possible to copy and paste the text in MyAppraisal into the paper form?
Why were Professors advised to use MyAppraisal?
What are the problems with Professorial Appraisal?
I am not happy about setting objectives in MyAppraisal. Should I refuse to complete just this section, or boycott the whole online system?
Who should boycott MyAppraisal: Appraisers or Appraisees, or both?
Are there any penalties for staff if they don’t use the MyAppraisal system?
Would there be penalties for staff in the next academic year?
What about those who applied for promotion last year?
SEE ALSO
What is the agreed purpose for appraisals at UCL?
UCL’s Appraisal, review and development policy is that appraisals are intended to carry out regular (was biennial, now annual) documented conversations to support staff development insofar as this aligns with department goals.
For professorial staff only, this involves professorial salary review which engages an element of performance assessment.
The Appraisal policy retains all data in confidence at department level. It is kept in separate Word documents. This practice protects staff against unfair attempts to compare their objectives or documented performance within the department or across the organisation.
Is an appraisal a performance or capability process?
An appraisal should be about supporting staff development. It is an annual conversation with a specific and sole focus on developing the staff member.
Except in the case of professors, where the professorial salary review scheme applies, the policy states that a capability process (which is to do with performance) is quite distinct (paragraph 5). Appraisal objectives are intended to be demanding, ambitious and ‘stretching’ goals that staff may or may not meet, not short or medium-term work targets.
Line managers should discuss performance-related concerns with staff separately, as necessary, and as they arise, not in the appraisal. This is for two reasons: staff are entitled to the developmental opportunity offered by appraisal; and any concerns about performance should be dealt with through the negotiated contractual policy.
Why is UCL UCU concerned about MyAppraisal?
Our concerns are that the MyAppraisal system changes the nature of UCL Appraisal from a developmental conversation into a qualitatively different process.
In particular we object to changes in the types of data collected and changes in data sharing and processing that are introduced and envisaged by the new MyAppraisal platform. These include:
- Introduction of SMART objectives (among other changes to staff data).
- Tracking of progress against these objectives.
- Collating and sharing of staff data at department (and higher) level.
We are very concerned that these changes alter the nature of staff appraisal fundamentally, permitting departments to create a performance management regime, such that HoDs or Deans could set and compare objectives (and compare progress against them) between staff.
What advice does UCL UCU have for members regarding MyAppraisal?
Wherever possible, you should not use the “MyAppraisal” platform for your appraisal. See the motion ‘MyAppraisal is not fit-for-purpose: Revise and Resubmit’ agreed at our 10th April 2025 General Meeting.
The only exception is Professors, who do not have an alternative paper-based form.
See our 7 May news article ‘MyAppraisal Boycott Update’ for further information.
I have been told that I have to use the online form for my appraisal; what should I do?
Managers cannot deny staff a developmental conversation, and UCL policy does not include the obligation to use any particular system for this. You are advised to speak with your line manager and say that you are entitled to a staff development review, and that the old forms are available, so can be used instead of the MyAppraisal online system.
Where can I find the current paper-based appraisal forms?
The paper based appraisal forms are archived on our website here.
How can paper-based forms be recorded?
Completed appraisals can be recorded in myHR.
Who should be able to access appraisal forms?
Appraisal forms should be accessible only to the appraisee, the appraiser, and the Head of Department or the Head of Section (where they are not the appraiser). The appraiser should provide a copy to the appraisee, and record the completion in MyHR to support compliance reporting.
If I started to use MyAppraisal before the branch began discussing it, and then paused it due to concerns and/or the branch motion, what should I do? And does my partially completed form remain on the system or can I remove it?
All information you submit is by definition your “personal data.” By law, you must be able to request the deletion of your personal data.
You can reopen your appraisal and overwrite any partially completed sections with “I have completed my appraisal on the paper form instead”.
Can I raise my particular support needs, e.g. for reasonable adjustments, on MyAppraisal?
This is difficult to do on MyAppraisal. Our recommendation is that these be raised by email with your line manager in the first instance and disclosures of disability are made via OH or your line manager, and that only a very brief mention of the fact that a reasonable adjustment was made should be included in an appraisal form.
Information about disability or health needs is considered sensitive personal data under GDPR, and sharing of this data should be restricted. The fact that MyAppraisal makes data available to Heads of Department, Deans and other members of senior management raises the risk of inappropriate sharing.
The paper-based appraisal forms have clear sections for raising and addressing these issues, which are absent on MyAppraisal, so there are no prompts for doing this. In any case, in order to request support, the appraiser has to be aware of their needs.
Is it possible to copy and paste the text in MyAppraisal into the paper form?
Yes, but be aware that the structure and content of the paper-based forms and the online form are different, so it may not be possible to just copy between them.
Why were Professors advised to use MyAppraisal?
We advised Professors to use MyAppraisal because it is similar to the old PAR system (now called professorial salary review), and there is no equivalent paper-based form. However, current negotiations are also an opportunity to address concerns about Professorial appraisal because the original changes to that were also not negotiated with the unions.
What are the problems with Professorial Appraisal?
There are a number of issues, but Professors have complained that appraisals are not really a two-way dialogue. The completed form goes to the HoD and then to Faculty, and if you are then rated ‘C – underperforming’, you effectively have your pay cut. Staff aren’t told how the ratings are done, and UCL publishes no data on this.
We need an open and active discussion with Academic Board to address these issues and concerns. Such a discussion could be initiated by requesting a Special Meeting of Academic Board under Standing Order 10 of the Standing Orders of the Academic Board of UCL.
I am not happy about setting objectives in MyAppraisal. Should I refuse to complete just this section, or boycott the whole online system?
The online form cannot be completed without setting objectives. We therefore recommend using the paper appraisal based forms archived on our website.
The core problem with setting objectives in MyAppraisal is that the appraisee is expected to define ‘SMART’ objectives, tag these as either performance- or learning-related, and the system sets percentage completion rates against which each objective will be assessed. This shifts an appraisal from a formative developmental process to a summative performance review (explicitly so in performance-related objectives), focusing not on development goals, but on performance targets. Even learning-related objectives, which could be about development, are included in this, since the use of percentage completion rates means that all identified objectives have performance targets.
Professional Services staff should be particularly concerned about the MyAppraisal system.
Colleagues on an academic contract are very difficult to dismiss on ‘capability’ grounds (Statute 18). This is not true for PS staff. The objectives in MyAppraisal can also be linked to the metric based emerging target culture, itself driven by the introduction of systems such as ‘MyServices’.
Who should boycott MyAppraisal: Appraisers or Appraisees, or both?
We are not asking anyone to boycott Appraisal.
We are asking colleagues being appraised (Appraisees) to not use the new MyAppraisal system. It is their personal data that is being captured and stored on the system.
We are not asking Appraisers to refuse to use it, although they should highlight the fact that the UCU is very concerned about the unilateral changes to UCL Appraisal that it introduces.
Appraisers can and should support their Appraisees in this process. When the appraisal is complete and signed off it should be logged as complete on MyHR.
Are there any penalties for staff if they don’t use the MyAppraisal system?
The Provost has confirmed (Academic Board, 21 May) that the answer is NO.
It is sufficient to carry out appraisal using the Word documents and for it to be marked as complete on MyHR.
This is welcome confirmation for staff who are applying for promotion or accelerated increments this year and who could have been impacted.
An additional increment at the top of Grades 8 and 9 came into operation in April 2025, before the appraisal deadline, and no requirement for a recent appraisal was applied to this.
Would there be penalties for staff in the next academic year?
Right now we cannot say no for certain. UCL has tied some elements of its pay policy to Appraisal and yet continues to claim that the policy is not ‘contractual’ so they can change it without negotiating or consulting with the recognised trade unions.
It is UCU’s intention to resolve this matter through negotiation. But we may need to build a campaign.
If you are not a union member please make sure you join.
What about those who applied for promotion last year?
This makes no difference at all. An application for promotion is made in relation to the relevant criteria of the Academic Careers Framework, and the requirement for a recent appraisal refers to the Word forms.