Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of gender-based pay inequality in the education sector.

The Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2018 provisional data shows that the median pay gap in the UK between male and female teaching and education professionals is 6.1%.

The Department is committed to working with schools to address barriers that can prevent women from progressing in the workplace. £2 million has been invested in new nationwide school led equality and diversity hubs to share expertise and provide professional development for teachers with protected characteristics, including women. The Department is also working with school leaders to expand opportunities for flexible work in schools which will help to retain experienced female teachers in the profession.

The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document states that, ‘Procedures for determining pay must comply with all the requirements of discrimination legislation. Procedures for determining pay should also be consistent with the principles of public life – objectivity, openness and accountability.’