Contracts and Offer letters
Once an offer of employment has been made and accepted a binding contract is formed, regardless of whether or not the terms of the offer have been put in writing.
However, it is both recommended best practice and a legal requirement to confirm the terms and conditions of employment in writing.
Further to changes made in April 2020, this statement must be provided no later than the first day of employment (some information can still be provided in instalments) though typically an employer will - in any event - provide details of terms and conditions ahead of the employee starting work, to ensure that they have had the opportunity to read and understand the information contained within it.
How the required information, plus any other additional contractual terms and conditions which the employer wishes to include, is presented to the employee is not prescribed.
In practice, it is often detailed between a mixture of the conditionally offer letter and a subsequent more detailed document often referred to either as the written statement of particulars of employment or contract of employment but they are essentially the same thing.
Workers who are not deemed to be employees (e.g. casuals) are also entitled to receive a written terms and conditions following the changes made in April 2020.
What's in this topic area
In this topic area you’ll find some Guidance and Resources on Contracts and Conditional Offer letters.
If you require guidance or support in issuing or amendment any terms and conditions of employment, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Visit our Changing Terms and Conditions of Employment Topic area for more information on:
We have recently amended our template contracts of employment and apprenticeship agreements to reflect forthcoming changes to ordinary unfair dismissal rights from 1st January 2027 (Employment Rights Act 2025)
Reduction in the threshold at which ordinary unfair dismissal rights apply (applies to new employees with an employment start date on or after 1 July 2026)
- The threshold at which ordinary unfair dismissal rights apply will reduce from two years of continuous service to six months of continuous service on 1 January 2027
- The length of service will be retrospective, meaning that anyone employed on or after 1 July 2026, who is dismissed on or after 1 January 2027, will acquire protection by the time the law changes
For Maintained Schools we have amended wording in our template that previously referenced to the School reserving the right to discipline or dismiss an employee with less than 2 years' continuous service without following School procedures. The amended wording now makes reference a maximum period where the school can choose not to follow usual procedures of 6 months’ continuous service.
For Academies and Independent Settings our updated templates contain new information in the comments section linked to the optional probationary period clause. The comments highlight the need to consider the impact of the reduction in the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal applicable to new joiners from 1 July 2026 when determining the length of a probationary period.
2 Guidance
Guidance
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Template Contracts
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4 Letter Templates
Conditional Offer Letters
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