The first round of applications for performance pay for teachers in England has closed.

After months of protests from teachers' unions and an ongoing legal attempt to derail the performance pay system, the first deadline for those seeking an extra �2,000 a year passed at midnight.

With the biggest teachers' union withdrawing the threat of a strike ballot against performance pay and with no organised boycotts in place, the government is hoping that opposition will fade.

Even though the National Union of Teachers has been deeply opposed to performance pay, claiming that it will be divisive and unfair, the union has still urged its members to apply and to take advantage of the extra money available.

This makes it more likely that there will have been a high level of interest in the merit money.

The government will claim this as an endorsement of its pay reforms, but many teachers say they have filled in the forms reluctantly and regard them as an unnecessary distraction from their real jobs.

Quality threshold

Under the performance pay system, those teachers who have applied for the merit rise will now be assessed by head teachers to see if they should cross the quality "threshold".

Those who achieve all the performance targets will receive the pay rise and access a higher-paid salary structure.

There are no quotas or limits on the numbers of teachers who can cross the threshold - and teachers unions and the government will be waiting to see whether a designated �1bn will be sufficient to start up the scheme.

There are still union concerns about how the scheme will be funded beyond its first two years.

While the processing of applications begins, the National Union of Teachers is expecting to have its legal protest against an aspect of the performance pay regulations heard in the next few weeks.

If the union's claim that there has been insufficient consultation is successful, a legal question mark will hang over how the process can be continued.