The allocation process is managed locally, and PSDS is not involved with this process. Should you have any queries please contact your local Appraisal Team for further assistance.
Once your appraisees have been allocated to you, you should be able to see them on SOAR and when they are due their next appraisal. If they don’t contact you, you should make contact with them well in advance to give you BOTH time to prepare for the appraisal meeting.
We would suggest arranging your diary three months in advance to give adequate notice and allow some leeway for both parties. To avoid a possible ‘logjam’ of appraisals, we would suggest you try to spread your appraisals out over the year. Once the meeting has been arranged, it is the appraiser's job to enter the details on SOAR so that the appraisee can submit their completed forms and documentation for sharing.
Appraisers at Refresher courses have shared that one of their challenges when offering availability to appraisees, is that they often select the last date offered which can sometimes lead to challenges if there were slippages. Something for you to consider.
In preparation for the meeting, make sure you give yourself adequate time to review the appraisee’s submission. If it is not received in a timely fashion, chase up with the appraisee accordingly. Your time is just as valuable as the appraisee’s and as much as they have taken to prepare the submission, you need time to review and reflect on it too.
Contact the appraisee to:
One of the biggest worries new appraisers have is what to do if your appraisee does not engage with you or the process. It may be a genuine lack of engagement, or it could be poor preparation, or they have underlying general unhappiness about appraisal or revalidation processes. What is they were rude and unprofessional in their conduct? What could you do?
Ensure you take all reasonable steps to engage them in the appraisal process. However, if after a reasonable period of time you cannot get the appraisee to engage with you, contact your Appraisal Lead and Local Administration Team. It may be that a Form 5B (notification of non-engagement) will need to be issued, but you should consult your Appraisal Lead first before filling out a Form 5B.
This page was last updated on: 12/05/2026
