What is the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS)? A plain-language guide for teachers
The Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) lets a teacher or scientist move to the next stage or grade after completing the required years of service and showing enough work in a set of defined areas. Here is how it works in practice and how to prepare for it.
CAS in one paragraph
Under CAS, promotion to the next stage does not depend on a vacancy. It depends on how long you have served in your current stage and on the Academic Performance Indicator (API) score you have earned from your work. Each university publishes the stages, the minimum scores and the list of countable activities in its own notification.
What the committee looks at
- Time in the current stage (service residency).
- API score from Category I: teaching, research, extension and technical administration.
- API score from Category II: co-curricular and professional development activities.
- API score from Category III: research and academic contributions such as papers, books, awards and guidance.
- Supporting proof for the activities you claim.
Why teachers struggle with CAS files
The work is spread over years. Certificates sit in different folders, scores are worked out in spreadsheets, and yearly caps are easy to get wrong. A missing proof discovered at submission time can cost marks.
A simple way to prepare
- Record every activity in the year you did it, not at the end of the cycle.
- Attach the proof document to the entry straight away.
- Check your category totals against the yearly caps and the promotion requirements each year.
- Before submission, export the full report with the proofs in the order your committee expects.
Where CAS Manager fits
CAS Manager is software that does steps one to four for you: a guided entry form that applies each activity's rule, a document vault tied to every entry, automatic category and yearly totals with a live eligibility check, and a one-click PDF export of your file. It is an independent tool and does not replace your university's official forms or notification.
Always confirm stages, minimum scores and activity lists in your own university's CAS notification.
Common questions
Is CAS the same as PBAS?
They are closely related. PBAS (Performance Based Appraisal System) is the proforma many universities use to collect the activities and scores that feed the CAS decision. CAS Manager supports a PBAS-style category structure.
Who needs to prepare a CAS file?
Teachers and scientists in institutions that use CAS for promotion between stages. Your university or department will tell you the cycle and the format.
Related guides
Points per activity, yearly maximums and a worked example.
What counts in each category, with the activity groups in CAS Manager.
The score and service checks to run before you submit.