Women in school leadership earn around £17,000 less than men by the end of their careers, according to new analysis of the gender pay gap in education by school leadership unions ASCL and NAHT, along with the National Governance Association and WomenEd.
The report found that the gender pay gap is more than four times larger for leaders than for classroom teachers, and that it increases with age and seniority in roles.
Analysis by the four groups of Department for Education school workforce statistics found that male headteachers over 60 earned on average £95,825, while their female counterparts earned just £78,491. This is a difference of £17,334, or around 20 per cent.
This is because at headteacher level, women tended to have steadier increases in salary by age, whereas men tend to see much larger increases, particularly towards the end of their career.
The analysis found a similar pattern at other leadership levels. The average pay gap between women and men increases from £2,760 at 35 to 39 to £4,024 at age 40 to 45.