Our latest equality and diversity data and reports

WRES was introduced by NHS England to help ensure that employees from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and receive fair treatment in the workplace. We became the first professional regulator to take part in WRES in 2019.

Alongside WRES, we publish our gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps every year. A pay gap compares the average pay for different groups, and it’s shaped by the distribution of colleagues at different levels of the organisation. Publishing our gender pay gap is a legal requirement. We voluntarily publish our ethnicity and disability pay gaps as part of our commitment to transparency and being an employer that’s aiming to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment.

Here are some of our key findings from the 2023 reports.

Workforce Race Equality Standard

The results of this report are set against nine key indicators.

• We’ve improved across three indicators, including an increase in Black and ethnic minority representation within the NMC, and a decrease in the overall number of colleagues experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse at work from people outside of our organisation.
• However, we’ve worsened across five indicators overall, with more colleagues from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds experiencing discrimination at work, or harassment, bullying or abuse within the NMC. Fewer colleagues from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds felt they had equal career opportunities compared to their white peers.
• There’s no change across two indicators – the likelihood of candidates from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds being appointed compared to white colleagues, and Black and ethnic minority representation at Board level.

Gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps report

• Our recruitment of colleagues from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds increased by 6.2 percent, including a 0.5 percent increase in our highest paying grades. However, the mean ethnicity pay gap increased by 2.0 percentage points to 27.5 percent. This is because we recruited more colleagues from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds in our lower grade roles, where most of our vacancies were in 2023.
• We had a positive mean disability pay gap – colleagues with disabilities were paid 6.1 percent more than non-disabled colleagues.
• The mean gender pay gap increased by 1.9 percentage points to 8.1 percent overall. That’s because we have a higher proportion of women in lower grade roles compared to higher grade roles.

Andrea Sutcliffe, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“At the NMC, we care deeply about our colleagues and the diversity of our workforce. This means promoting a culture of equality and inclusion where everyone is appreciated and treated with the respect they deserve.

“These results paint a mixed picture and show that there’s much more we need to do, particularly in eliminating discrimination, bullying and harassment from our workplaces. We must also ensure that all colleagues have equal access to career opportunities, with the chance to develop and grow as valued members of our organisation.

“We’re committed to being an inclusive and fair employer. We’re here to protect the public, and to do that we need a safe and inclusive environment that supports all our colleagues to thrive and deliver our work successfully. We’ll soon be sharing more details of an external investigation we’re commissioning into our culture, which will help ensure we see positive and lasting change.”

Further information

You can also find our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion data tables on our website.

Other recent news…