Many teachers in England and Wales want nothing to do with the government's plans to give them a performance-related pay rise of up to 10%, according to a survey.

The survey, carried out by NOP for the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, found that only 17% of those who would be eligible for the merit rise said they would apply for it.

They would be the staff at the top of the present classroom teachers' pay scale who could opt to go through a "threshold" onto a new pay scale, triggering an immediate rise of "up to 10%", the government has said.

Most of those who said they would not take the opportunity said they thought the proposed system "unfair".

Ministers pexpect that more than half the 220,000 eligible teachers will pass the new threshold next year, using up the £1bn set aside over two years for a pay system that rewards the best.

'Extremely cool'

The Education Secretary, David Blunkett, told them last spring that if they did not go for the cash, he would find it harder to argue for more for future years in the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

He might take comfort from the large proportion of waverers in the survey: 29% said they did not yet know whether they would apply, which suggests that more persuasion might pay off.

But the NASUWT's General Secretary, Nigel de Gruchy, said the survey showed teachers were "extremely cool towards the prospect of a £2,000 pay rise if the equation includes payment by pupil results".

The government should "slow down and listen" and recognise that "payment by results is poisoning the atmosphere", he said.

The NASUWT wants the new system to be based instead on observation of teachers' effectiveness.

Not heard of it

NOP interviewed what it calls "a nationally representative sample" of 997 teachers face to face, mostly at school, at the start of this autumn term - 510 in primary schools and the rest secondary teachers.

Some 10% had not even heard of the new performance threshold - and almost a quarter of those in Wales.

Overall, 55% said they would not apply for it . Teachers who already get more pay for undertaking extra responsibilities were more likely to apply - 19% against 10% of those without.

Of those who were not yet eligible but might be in future, 31% said they would apply, 33% said they would not and 37% were unsure.

A senior government source repeated that ministers were confident that teachers would take advantage of the scheme when they saw what it could mean in their pay packets.

"Faced with the reality that they can be assessed on the work they are doing, against targets they will be set anyway, we are confident that most teachers will want to apply for this," the source said.

But David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "If this accurately reflects the attitude of teachers it sends a very strong message to the government that they have a lot more work to do to sell these proposals."