Broadleaf Partnership Trust is once again outperforming the national average in Education as it releases it’s latest Gender Pay Gap report.
The latest data for the year ending March 2025 saw an increase in female representation amongst the highest earners in the Trust, whilst female support staff continue to be on average in a reverse pay gap, earning £1.05 for every pound paid to a male counterpart.
Female employees also saw a median pay increase of 5.06% compared to 0.62% for median males, with the data suggesting the gap is closing for the vast majority of staff.
The overall headline figure saw the pay gap increase across the Trust as a whole, though Director of People & Culture, Samantha Palmer, says there are clear reasons for this:
“With only 98 men in the entire organisation, any salary increase for a few senior male leaders, or appointment of male leaders to previously female-held roles, will disproportionately pull the male mean salary upwards. In contrast, the very high concentration of women in the lower quartile (80.21%), ‘anchors’ the female mean, making it much slower to rise than the male mean.
Whilst it is disheartening to see an increase in the overall mean gender pay gap, the median data tells a more positive story, and the fact that there are more women in the top quartile is an indicator that the pipeline is improving.”
The 2025 report, available to view in full on the Trust website, provides a breakdown of the key figures between teaching and support staff, alongside specific data splitting the hourly rate of employees into four sections, suggesting more women are moving into senior leadership positions:
“This is typically the most difficult gap to close and is a strong indicator of successful career progression initiatives.
Additionally, there is an improved gender balance in the Lower Quartile, with male representation in the lowest-paid roles increasing from 16.09% to 19.79%. This is important as typically within the education sector the pay gap is worsened because women are “over-represented” in the lowest-paid roles. By increasing the percentage of men in the Lower Quartile, the organisation is becoming more gender-balanced at the entry level.”
Six specific actions have been outlined, including a commitment to positively recruiting to all positions and ensuring recruitment processes, pay and professional development policies are fair and transparent.
“We remain passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion, and are committed to continuing to see gender pay equality across our organisation.”