This was not a one-off arrangement, but a complex process of negotiation, which was designed to produce the changes needed to suit the profession for the next decade or longer.The Scottish system's reliance on promotion is virtually unique—I cannot think of another education system in the western world that places such a reliance on it. I think that it arose from a comparatively cynical attempt in the early 1970s to buy off teacher discontent by creating additional posts, rather than by giving significant pay increases across the board.