How to make changes to a job description
Understand what you need to do to change a job description, including consulting with staff and matching changes to statutory guidance, so everyone is clear on their roles and responsibilities.
Contents
- Decide why you need to change a job description
- Talk to your staff before changing their job description
- Get feedback on any changes you’d like to make
- Check the existing job description
- Draft the new job description
- Make the agreed changes and put the new job description in place
- Review your job descriptions every year
FusionHR advised us on this article. The Key is a minority investor in FusionHR.
Decide why you need to change a job description
You might need to change a staff member’s job description when:
- Job roles change: e.g. staff taking on extra responsibilities (explained below)
- There are curriculum changes: e.g. introducing Bloom's Taxonomy
It’s likely that you’ll need to change your job descriptions during any school restructuring to reflect any changes in roles and responsibilities.
Read our guidance on restructuring your school's staff structure to understand the process and how to stay compliant.
Job descriptions should match updated statutory guidance
For example, paragraph 18 of Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) was updated in 2024 to add that all staff are expected to look out for pupils who have experienced multiple suspensions and are at risk of permanent exclusion, as
