Disability Pay Gap

In total 223 staff (6.8% overall, comprising 146 women and 77 men) report having a disability or long-term condition. The disability pay gap refers to the difference in average hourly pay between disabled and non-disabled employees across the whole organisation.

The disability pay gap at Northumbria University has narrowed considerably in 2025, falling to 6.3% (mean) and 6.7% (median). This marks a major improvement from 2024, when the gap was around double at 13.4% (for both mean and median).

The disability pay gap figures suggest the existence of structural barriers to progression and promotion for disabled staff, including underrepresentation in higher pay grades and leadership positions. However, low declaration rates have impacted on the 2025 data, where at the time the snapshot data was taken (31 March 2025), almost a fifth (17.8%) of staff had not completed their disability information, particularly at higher grades. However, following a targeted action plan to improve disclosure, only 3.2% are yet to provide their information. This will improve the reliability of future reports.

Until 2024, the median gap was consistently higher than the mean, indicating that disabled staff were underrepresented at higher levels of pay. In the latest figures, however, both mean and median have converged around 6% to 7%, suggesting a more even distribution and clear progress towards narrowing the disability pay gap.

At the same time, the disability pay gap is wider among academic staff than professional support staff, highlighting a potential need for targeted action to improve the representation of disabled staff in this staff group.