Pupils' achievements in exams will play a central part in judging whether teachers in Wales are eligible for performance-related pay.

Draft guidelines have been published by the Department for Education and Employment in London.

Rosemary Butler said the Assembly had no power to set pay standards

Assembly Education Secretary Rosemary Butler has told the Education Committee that the Assembly has no power in this area.

She told them that: "The threshold assessment is an assessment made for pay purposes and the Assembly has no statutory responsibility for setting standards relating to the award of pay points".

The draft guidelines state that: "One of the standards will be an assessment of the progress the teacher's pupils have made. This should be shown in marks or grades in any relevant national tests or examinations".

Opposition parties in the Assembly have firmly rejected any notion of assessing teachers based on the performance of their pupils.

'Common sense view'

Details of the criteria, which could allow some teachers to earn �2000 extra, were published by Schools Standards Minister Estelle Morris.

"One of the standards will be an assessment of the progress the teachers' pupils have made," said Ms Morris.

"It will consider the impact a teacher has on their pupils' progress.

"This is not payment by results but a common sense view that the assessment would be incomplete if we did not consider the progress of pupils as well as the quality of teaching," she added.