Teach First Ethnicity Pay Gap Report: 2023

Overall ethnic minority representation across the charity has increased. The number of colleagues who identify as Black, Asian and minority ethnic has increased from 12% in 2019 to 18.5% in 2023. However, this year’s report, when compared to our 2022 Ethnicity Pay Gap Report, shows a significant increase in both our median pay gap (2.08% to 13.05%) and our mean pay gap (5.85% to 14.64%).

This year-on-year increase in our ethnicity pay gap is because while Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation has increased within our lower and lower middle pay quartiles – from 22.10% to 28.81% and from 15.38% to 17.42% respectively – representation has declined in our upper middle and upper pay quartiles – from 13.19% to 11.24% and from 19.89% to 16.38% respectively.

In other words, whilst we continue to increase Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic representation across ‘junior’ levels, representation in ‘senior’ jobs has declined in the last 12 months – this includes the departure of three Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Directors. (Directors at Teach First report into our Executive Directors, and form part of our wider senior leadership team.)

To make meaningful progress on our ethnicity pay gap we need to ensure we increase our number of ethnic minority leaders through retention of those who join the charity at more junior levels and through recruitment (and then retention) at management and leadership levels.

We also need to ensure that in considering a binary pay gap measure of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees and non-Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic employees we do not conflate the varied experiences of people from different ethnic groups, and in particular, that we do not obscure the specific experiences of Black colleagues.

Read more about Diversity & Inclusion at Teach First.