School teacher workforce

Published 28 January 2020

Last updated 7 September 2020 - see all updates

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• in 2018, 85.9% of all teachers in state-funded schools in England were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
• by comparison, 78.5% of the working age population was White British at the time of the 2011 Census
• 3.9% of teachers were from the White Other ethnic group, the second highest percentage after the White British group
• 92.9% of headteachers were White British
• three-quarters of teachers were women, and there were more female than male teachers in every ethnic group

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

This data shows:

• the number of school teachers, including headteachers, in state-funded schools in England
• the percentage of school teachers from different ethnic groups

The data includes teachers employed by their school or local authority. It covers all state-funded schools including academies and free schools.

The data is based on a ‘headcount’, and counts both part time and full time teachers.

Total numbers of teachers in each ethnic group are rounded to the nearest 100. Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.

Not included in the data

The data doesn't include

• teaching assistants
• teachers on contracts of less than 1 month

It also doesn’t include teachers in:

• independent schools
• sixth form colleges
• further education schools and colleges

Estimates based on fewer than 50 teachers have not been included. This is to ensure that only reliable findings are shown.

The ethnic groups used in the data

The data uses ethnic groups from the 2001 Census. Working age population estimates come from the 2011 Census.

The 2001 Census categories don’t include the Arab and White Gypsy and Irish Traveller ethnic groups, so data for these groups is included under ‘Any Other ethnic group’.

The ethnicity was known for around 93% of teachers. Percentages are based on teachers whose ethnicity was known.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document, PDF, 475KB, 32 pages (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for this data.

3. By ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018
• Source: School workforce in England: November 2018

Percentage and number of school teachers, and percentage of the working age population (2011), by ethnicity

Ethnicity	% of teacher workforce	Teachers	% of working age population
Asian
Bangladeshi	0.6	2,700	0.8
Indian	1.9	8,900	3.0
Pakistani	1.2	5,500	2.0
Asian other	0.7	3,100	1.7
Black
Black African	0.9	4,000	1.9
Black Caribbean	1.0	4,800	1.2
Black other	0.3	1,500	0.5
Mixed
Mixed White/Asian	0.3	1,600	0.5
Mixed White/Black African	0.1	600	0.2
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.4	1,700	0.6
Mixed other	0.5	2,400	0.5
White
White British	85.9	399,300	78.5
White Irish	1.6	7,300	1.0
White other	3.9	18,000	5.6
Other including Chinese
Chinese	0.2	800	0.9
Any other	0.6	2,700	1.1
Unknown	N/A*	35,300	N/A*

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of School teacher workforce By ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2018, 85.9% of all teachers in state-funded schools in England were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
• by comparison, 78.5% of the working age population was White British at the time of the 2011 Census
• 3.9% of teachers were from the White Other ethnic group and 1.9% were from the Indian ethnic group – by comparison, 5.6% of the working age population was from the White Other group, and 3.0% was from the Indian ethnic group
• White Irish people made up 1.6% of teachers, and 1.0% of the working age population

4. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018
• Source: School workforce in England: November 2018

Percentage and number of school teachers by ethnicity and gender

	Men		Women
Ethnicity	Men %	Men Teachers	Women %	Women Teachers
Asian
Bangladeshi	0.6	700	0.6	2,000
Indian	1.5	1,700	2.0	7,200
Pakistani	1.1	1,300	1.2	4,200
Asian other	0.7	800	0.6	2,300
Black
Black African	1.3	1,500	0.7	2,500
Black Caribbean	1.0	1,100	1.1	3,700
Black other	0.4	400	0.3	1,000
Mixed
Mixed White/Asian	0.4	500	0.3	1,200
Mixed White/Black African	0.2	200	0.1	400
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.3	400	0.4	1,300
Mixed other	0.5	500	0.5	1,800
White
White British	85.9	96,600	85.9	302,600
White Irish	1.9	2,200	1.4	5,100
White other	3.3	3,700	4.0	14,200
Other including Chinese
Chinese	0.2	200	0.2	600
Any other	0.6	700	0.6	2,000
Unknown	N/A*	9,200	N/A*	26,000

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of School teacher workforce By ethnicity and gender Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2018, around three-quarters of school teachers were women
• in every ethnic group, there were more female than male teachers
• among both men and women, 85.9% of teachers were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
• men from the White Other ethnic group made up 3.3% of male teachers, and White Irish men made up 1.9% (the next highest percentages)
• women from the White Other ethnic group made up 4.0% of female teachers, and women from the Indian ethnic group made up 2.0% (the next highest percentages)

5. By ethnicity and role

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018
• Source: School workforce in England: November 2018

Percentage and number of school teachers by ethnicity and role

	Classroom and others		Deputies and assistants		Heads
Ethnicity	Classroom and others %	Classroom and others Teachers	Deputies and assistants %	Deputies and assistants Teachers	Heads %	Heads Teachers
Asian
Bangladeshi	0.7	2,600	0.3	100
Indian	2.0	8,000	1.5	700	0.8	200
Pakistani	1.3	5,100	0.7	300	0.4	100
Asian other	0.7	2,800	0.4	200	0.2	100
Black
Black African	0.9	3,800	0.4	200	0.2
Black Caribbean	1.1	4,200	1.0	500	0.7	200
Black other	0.3	1,400	0.2	100	0.1
Mixed
Mixed White/Asian	0.4	1,400	0.3	100	0.3	100
Mixed White/Black African	0.1	500	0.1		0.1
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.4	1,500	0.3	100	0.2
Mixed other	0.5	2,100	0.4	200	0.2
White
White British	85.1	337,600	89.7	41,900	92.9	19,700
White Irish	1.5	6,100	1.7	800	1.8	400
White other	4.1	16,500	2.5	1,100	1.8	400
Other including Chinese
Chinese	0.2	800	0.1		0.1
Any other	0.6	2,500	0.4	200	0.2
Unknown	N/A*	31,300	N/A*	2,800	N/A*	1,200

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of School teacher workforce By ethnicity and role Summary

In 2018, there were around 428,100 classroom teachers, 49,500 deputy or assistant headteachers and 22,400 headteachers.

This data shows that:

• White British people accounted for 92.9% of headteachers, 89.7% of deputy or assistant headteachers and 85.1% of classroom teachers (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
• 0.1% of classroom teachers were Mixed White and Black African, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this role
• 0.1% of deputy and assistant headteachers were from the Mixed White and Black African, and Chinese ethnic groups, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this role
• White Irish was the only other ethnic group (as well as White British) with a higher percentage of headteachers (1.8%) than deputy or assistant head teachers (1.7%) or classroom teachers (1.5%)

6. By ethnicity and type of school

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018
• Source: School workforce in England: November 2018

Percentage and number of school teachers by ethnicity and type of school

	Nursery and Primary		Secondary		Special		Centrally employed
Ethnicity	Nursery and Primary %	Nursery and Primary Teachers	Secondary %	Secondary Teachers	Special %	Special Teachers	Centrally employed %	Centrally employed Teachers
Asian
Bangladeshi	0.5	1,300	0.7	1,400	0.2	100	0.2
Indian	1.7	3,900	2.3	4,700	1.0	200	1.0
Pakistani	1.0	2,400	1.4	2,900	0.5	100	0.5
Asian other	0.5	1,100	0.9	1,800	0.4	100	0.3
Black
Black African	0.5	1,100	1.3	2,700	1.0	200	0.1
Black Caribbean	0.9	2,000	1.2	2,500	1.4	300	0.6
Black other	0.2	500	0.4	900	0.4	100	0.2
Mixed
Mixed White/Asian	0.3	800	0.4	800	0.3	100	0.3
Mixed White/Black African	0.1	200	0.2	300	0.1		0.1
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.3	800	0.4	700	0.5	100	0.3
Mixed other	0.5	1,100	0.5	1,100	0.5	100	0.5
White
White British	88.7	208,000	82.6	167,000	86.2	20,600	90.2	3,700
White Irish	1.3	3,100	1.9	3,800	1.4	300	1.1
White other	2.9	6,900	4.8	9,600	5.4	1,300	4.0	200
Other including Chinese
Chinese	0.1	300	0.2	500	0.1		0.1
Any other	0.4	1,000	0.8	1,600	0.6	100	0.4
Unknown	N/A*	15,500	N/A*	17,100	N/A*	1,800	N/A*	900

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of School teacher workforce By ethnicity and type of school Summary

In 2018, there were around 250,000 nursery and primary school teachers, 219,300 secondary school teachers, 25,700 special school teachers and 5,000 teachers who were centrally employed by the local authority.

This data shows that:

• 88.7% of nursery and primary school teachers were White British (out of those whose ethnicity was known)
• White British people made up 82.6% of secondary school teachers, 86.2% of special school teachers, and 90.2% of those employed by the local authority
• teachers from the White Other group were the next largest group in all types of school, making up 2.9% of nursery and primary school teachers, 4.8% of secondary school teachers, 5.4% of special school teachers, and 4.0% of centrally employed teachers
• in every type of school, teachers were least likely to be from the Chinese or Mixed White and Black African ethnic groups

7. By ethnicity and gender (headteachers only)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018
• Source: School workforce in England: November 2018

Percentage and number of headteachers by ethnicity and gender

	Men		Women
Ethnicity	Men %	Men Headteachers	Women %	Women Headteachers
Asian
Bangladeshi	0.1
Indian	0.6		0.9	100
Pakistani	0.3		0.4	100
Asian other	0.2		0.2
Black
Black African	0.2		0.2
Black Caribbean	0.6		0.8	100
Black other	0.1		0.1
Mixed
Mixed White/Asian	0.3		0.2
Mixed White/Black African			0.1
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	0.1		0.3
Mixed other	0.1		0.3
White
White British	93.0	6,500	92.8	13,200
White Irish	2.1	100	1.6	200
White other	2.0	100	1.7	200
Other including Chinese
Chinese	0.1		0.1
Any other	0.2		0.2
Unknown	N/A*	400	N/A*	800

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of School teacher workforce By ethnicity and gender (headteachers only) Summary

This data shows that:

• there were around 22,400 headteachers in 2018, and over two-thirds of those (around 15,000) were women
• 97.1% of male headteachers were White (including White ethnic minorities), and 96.2% of female headteachers were White

8. Data sources

Source

School workforce in England: November 2018

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

School workforce data is used to monitor the effectiveness and diversity of staff in schools, and informs policies on pay.

It's also used by other government departments, local authorities, external agencies and educational researchers.

9. Download the data

School teacher workforce - Spreadsheet (csv) 806 KB

This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, gender, teacher type, school type, value, headcount

Publication release date: 28 January 2020

Updated: 7 September 2020

full page history

1. 7 September 2020 Moved all contextual information to ‘Things you need to know’ and its new subsections. Increased visibility by adding it to the table of contents. Removed any duplication and added links to content about understanding our data. Charts, tables and the data file have not been updated.
2. 28 January 2020 Updated with the latest available data (for 2018).

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 14 May 2019
2. 30 May 2018

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