Gender Pay Gap Reporting

Epworth Education Trust is required by law to carry out gender pay gap reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

At the snapshot date of 31st March 2025, the Trust had 364 employees who count as full pay relevant employees (the definition used for reporting gender pay). There were 322 females (88%) and 42 males (12%).

The overall gender pay gap is defined as the difference between the mean (average) or median (actual midpoint) hourly rate of pay of male and female employees. These figures are provided in the table below:

We confirm that the data reported is accurate and has been calculated according to the requirements of The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017.

As a primary multi academy trust, our workforce is predominantly female (88%), which reflects national trends in the education sector. The Trust employs significantly more support staff than teaching staff, and many of these support roles are part‑time or term‑time only. These roles are essential to our schools and are mostly held by women who value the flexibility that school-based employment can offer. As these roles are typically lower-paid, the overall average (mean and median) hourly pay for women in the Trust is affected.

While we employ more men proportionally in teaching and leadership roles, it is important to note that women are also well‑represented in our most senior and higher‑paid positions, including leadership, headship, teaching, and central trust roles. Our upper pay quartile is, in fact, predominantly female.

The gender pay gap in our Trust therefore does not reflect unequal pay for the same or equivalent work. Instead, it reflects the distribution of roles across the organisation, where a greater proportion of women work in lower-paid support roles and a greater proportion of men work in teacher and leadership roles.

We use pay scales based on the School Teachers Pay & Conditions Document for teachers and academy-based leaders. For support staff, we use the NJC job evaluation framework and pay scales, within the grading structures adopted in each local authority area. This ensures consistent, grade-based pay structures regardless of gender.

We are committed to further reducing our gender pay gap over time and have already taken steps to support fair progression and opportunity across the Trust. Over the coming years, we will:

• Continue to review recruitment practices to ensure gender neutrality at every stage and promote diverse applicant pools for teaching and leadership roles.
• Strengthen career development pathways for support staff, enabling clear progression routes into higher-paid roles, including teaching assistant to teacher programmes and leadership development opportunities.
• Promote flexible working across all staff groups, supporting both men and women to balance work and family life without limiting career progression.
• Review part-time patterns and explore opportunities for job-sharing or redesigned roles that allow more staff—including men—to enter and stay in teaching and leadership.
• Monitor gender distribution annually across all pay quartiles to understand emerging trends and evaluate the impact of our actions.

As this is our first annual report, future reports from 2026 onwards will include year-on-year comparisons to demonstrate progress.