ACTION is needed to prevent the pay gap between male and female headteachers from widening further, school leaders said on International Women’s Day today. 

The annual event serves as a reminder that “we still have a very long way to go when it comes to tackling inequity,” said National Association of Head Teachers general secretary Paul Whiteman.

“School leadership pay has been eroded for everyone over the last decade, but for women there has been a ‘double hit’ due to continued disparity in the system,” he stressed.

“Worryingly, there is evidence to suggest that the pay gap between men and women in school leadership has actually worsened over the last decade.”

Mr Whiteman pointed to recent analysis by his union and grassroots campaign movement WomenEd showing that the gender pay gap among headteachers across all state-funded nursery and primary schools has widened by nearly £1,000 since the Tories came to power.

Having averaged £1,878 in 2010-11, when the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition government took office, the disparity in such schools grew to £2,834 last year, while it also grew in secondary schools over the same period, peaking in 2019-20 at an average of £2,917.

Mr Whiteman also highlighted recent school workforce statistics revealing that male teachers typically earn 2.4 per cent more than their female peers, while at headteacher level the gap is a “staggering” 12 per cent. 

Although women make up the majority of the teaching workforce, they remain “underrepresented” in senior leadership positions, he noted, with men accounting for a quarter of primary heads but just one in eight classroom teachers. 

This is also true in secondary schools, where men make up six in 10 heads but only about a third (34 per cent) of classroom teachers. 

Mr Whiteman said: “We have identified several factors that could be contributing to the gap in pay, including the underrepresentation of women in senior leadership positions, the impact of performance-related pay and the fact that women are more likely to manage caring responsibilities.

“To make progress, we need to frame the issue in a way that fosters a culture of change at all levels.

“We have highlighted the pay gap in order to continue a much-needed conversation, helping to empower women leaders everywhere.”