Gender Pay Statement
Gender Pay Gap reporting to March 2023
| Difference in the mean hourly pay male to female: | 18.94% |
| Difference in the median hourly pay male to female: | 32.25% |
| Proportion of male and female employees who were paid bonus pay: | 0% |
Proportion of male and female employees according to quartile pay bands:
| Female | Male | |
| Quartile 1 (Lower): | 91.5% | 8.5% |
| Quartile 2 (Lower middle): | 88.5% | 11.5% |
| Quartile 3 (Upper middle): | 78.2% | 21.8% |
| Quartile 4 (Upper): | 78.2% | 21.8% |
Aquinas Church of England Education Trust is an employer required by law to carry out Gender Pay Reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017. An employer must comply with the regulations for any year where they have a headcount of 250 or more employees on the snapshot date. On 31st March 2023, Aquinas had 726 employees (125 male, 601 female) for the purposes of these calculations.
Aquinas is committed to ensuring that all staff receive equal pay for equal work regardless of gender. We follow the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document for setting Teachers’ pay, and the NJC for Local Government Services guidance for setting Associate Staff pay. We use a job evaluation scheme to determine the salary for a role. This ensures that roles of equal value are paid the same salary, i.e. men and women who carry out the same job, similar jobs, or work of equal value, are paid the same.
The education sector has been reported to show the third highest gender pay gap in the UK, due to systematic and deeply rooted factors present in schools and academies. Factors such as female staff comprising the majority of term-time only roles and males being disproportionately represented amongst teaching staff. Research suggests that the gender pay gap will not be fully closed in the education sector for 21 years, and the mean gender pay gap for the entire sector remains at ~22.2%.
Overall, the median hourly rate gender pay gap has narrowed by 1.03% from the previous year, but remains higher than the sector wide gap of 27.6%. The mean hourly pay gap has increased by 2.6% from the previous years’ report. These changes can be explained by the movement of several senior members of staff within the period and the process of losing several lower quartile male staff due to undergoing a TUPE process amongst cleaning and site staff. Another factor that has contributed to the narrowing of the median pay gap is the implementation of full annual leave entitlement for all staff on term-time only contracts, bringing hundreds of Associate staff in line with a benefit already enjoyed by staff on teacher’s terms and conditions.
Female staff make up the vast majority of employees in all pay quartiles. Representation in the upper and upper middle quartiles for female staff has increased since last years’ report, due to successful initiatives to promote internal growth and opportunities for professional development. Female representation remains strong amongst senior leaders in schools and at Trust level. Further work remains necessary to remove obstacles for progression, ensuring a completely fair and unbiased recruitment process that reaches all suitable candidates.