The gender pay gap between male and female secondary head teachers in Wales increased tenfold in just a year, new analysis has revealed. 

NAHT Cymru found that on average, male heads were paid £4,507 more than their female counterparts in secondary schools in 2024/25, a big jump from the £447 gap in 2023/24. Back in 2019/20 the difference stood at £1,887. 

The school leaders’ union, which used workforce data to analyse the gender pay gap for the first time, found the latest gap among primary heads stood at £739 in favour of men, while among special school heads it was £846. Both those figures have shrunk since peaking in 2019/20 at £1,128 and £6,390 respectively. 

When it comes to ‘other leadership roles’, including acting, deputy, and assistant headteacher, the gap rose from £1,633 to £1,771 in secondary schools, and to six-year highs of £516 in primaries and £3,785 in special schools.  

The pay gap in senior roles emerges despite the existence of a national pay framework. 

It usually arises after women move from teaching, where they make up 74% of the workforce, into leadership, where the proportion of women in post stands at 62% among headteachers and 68% among other leadership roles. 

In primary schools, female teachers were paid on average £1,058 more than men in 2024/25, up from £881 the previous year, while in secondaries the gap in favour of women was broadly similar at £160. Conversely, male teachers were paid on average £891 more in primary special schools, up from £832 in 2023/24. 

Laura Doel, national secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, said:  

“It cannot be fair or right that women who progress into senior leadership roles are paid less on average than men. 

“While it is possible the enormous gap this year among secondary heads has been skewed by a small number of outliers, it remains clear that this is a really significant issue for all types of school. 

“It is grossly unfair for the women affected. A small gap can accumulate to become a really big difference in overall earnings over the course of a career, with major implications for salaries and pension rights and entitlements. 

“It is bad for schools and children more broadly too, because if women feel they are not being fairly compensated for the enormous responsibility and workload that goes with leadership, they are more likely to leave the profession. Schools can ill-afford to lose talented female leaders at a time when many are already facing recruitment and retention difficulties. 

“We are not seeing anything like enough really sustained improvement in tackling this issue and that is why we are calling on the Welsh Government to act now.” 

NAHT Cymru is calling on the Welsh Government to: 

• Review the equality implications of the current pay system. 

• Provide central support to help women into leadership through mentoring, coaching, and leadership development. 

• Provide greater, funded support to help mitigate the systemic barriers to flexible working for all roles. 

• Level up parental leave entitlements across the profession, and deliver a national policy for Wales on funded parental leave and adoption. 

ENDS  

Notes to Editors 

1) We used the original and new StatsWales sites on teacher pay to source the data.