Gender pay gap report 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025
Published 16 December 2025
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Executive summary
The transport system is a cornerstone of daily life in the UK, connecting people to jobs, services, and opportunities, and supporting economic growth across the country. As a department, we are committed to delivering a safe, secure and sustainable transport network that works for everyone.
To achieve this, our workforce must reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. That’s why we are focused on increasing our presence in cities across the UK and driving progress toward gender balance at all levels of the organisation.
In the year to March 2025, the Department for Transport (DfT) Group made measurable progress in reducing its gender pay gap (GPG), while continuing to implement targeted actions to support gender equity across all agencies.
Highlights
- mean gender pay gap reduced by 3 percentage points, now at 6.2%
- median gender pay gap reduced by 5.5 percentage points, now at 6.6%
- gender bonus gap (GBG) continues to favour women, with the mean GBG at -10.2% and median GBG at -12.9%
- female representation across DfT Group increased to 46.7%
- women remain under-represented in higher pay quartiles and over-represented in lower ones
- targeted actions taken across all agencies to support gender equity, including mentoring, inclusive recruitment, and menopause support
- DfT’s Group equality, diversity and inclusion strategy 2025 to 2028 was published in October 2025
These results reflect a positive trajectory. The mean and median GPG reductions bring DfT Group closer in line with the wider UK labour market. However, challenges remain. Women continue to be over-represented in the lowest pay quartiles and under-represented in the highest, a pattern consistent with broader Civil Service trends.
While female representation has increased by 0.4 percentage points to 46.7%, many of these new entrants are in lower pay quartiles. Additionally, roles that can attract market-based pay allowances, particularly in the engineering, commercial and digital professions, remain male-dominated, reflecting wider labour market imbalances.
Our new equality, diversity and inclusion strategy builds on this year’s progress and sets out further actions to close the gender pay gap. We remain committed to empowering women to achieve their potential and to making DfT and its agencies outstanding places to work, ensuring our services best meet the needs of the travelling public.
Introduction
The reporting period for this publication covers 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
DfT has prepared this report as part of the legal requirement for public authorities to publish GPGs on an annual basis.
The report outlines the department’s strategy to improve the GPG, as well as providing examples of some of the actions currently being undertaken.
What is the legislative requirement?
In 2017, the government introduced world-leading legislation that made it statutory for organisations with 250 or more employees to report annually on their GPG.
Government departments are covered by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017, which came into force on 31 March 2017.
These regulations underpin the Public Sector Equality Duty and require relevant organisations to annually publish their GPG by 30 March. This includes the:
- mean and median GPG based on basic pay
- mean and median GBG for the 12 months ending 31 March 2025
- proportion of men and women who received bonuses in the 12 months ending 31 March 2025
- proportions of men and women in each pay quartile
Organisational context
Our structure
DfT comprises a core ministerial department and 5 executive agencies:
- DfT central department (DfTc)
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
- Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
- Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)
- Active Travel England (ATE)
We employ around 16,000 staff and 75 non-payroll workers. We have a diverse workforce occupying a wide range of roles, from policy developers to critical frontline services such as the air, marine and rail accident investigation branches, driving examiners, coastguards, engineers and marine surveyors.
The GPG report 2025 is based on data drawn from across DfT Group.
In July 2022, we launched our 3-year group DfT diversity, inclusion and wellbeing strategy. DfT’s new Group equality, diversity and inclusion strategy 2025 to 2028 was published in October 2025.
The new strategy continues to build on the progress made and will focus on 3 priorities:
- representing the communities we serve
- being confidently inclusive
- maximising potential for all
The strategy seeks to build a welcoming and supportive workplace, enabling us to attract, develop and retain a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Our aim is to provide an inclusive environment where everyone can feel a sense of belonging, feel valued, be themselves and is recognised for their individual talents and contribution to the delivery of our objectives.
The actions within this strategy support our commitment to reduce our GPG and support the delivery of the Civil Service’s equality, diversity and inclusion goals through a set of commitments which make sense for DfT.
Gender pay gap report
GPG is a high-level snapshot of pay within an organisation and measures the difference in average pay between men and women in the workforce. Specifically, this is the amount that, on average, men are paid compared to women.
A positive GPG value indicates men are paid more than women, while a negative GPG value indicates that women are paid more than men. If a workforce has a GPG, this can indicate there may be one or more issues driving disparity in an organisation’s structure or policies.
In contrast, ‘equal pay’ is a more specific legal concept that deals with the pay differences between men and women carrying out comparable jobs. Men and women in comparable jobs are normally entitled to the same pay unless an employer can show differences in pay are justified legally.
This report analyses DfT Group GPG figures in more detail, making comparisons with our previous data, where relevant.
2025 headline figures: DfT Group GPG
The GPG analysis presents the difference in average (mean and median) hourly pay between all men and women in the workforce.
An hourly rate comparison is used to look at the pay gap, as this allows for the consideration of both full-time and part-time workers.
The salary data used for the 2025 GPG reporting is based on employees in post on 31 March 2025, as well as bonus pay for March 2025 only.
The reporting on the GBG includes all bonuses awarded between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
The DfT Group mean GPG has reduced by 3.0 percentage points since 2024, from 9.2% to 6.2%.
The DfT Group median GPG has reduced by 5.5 percentage points since 2024, from 12.1% to 6.6%.
Table 1: mean and median GPG for DfT Group
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | 15.2% | 7.8% | 10.7% | 10.7% | 9.2% | 6.2% |
| Median | 13.0% | 5.8% | 12.9% | 13.3% | 12.1% | 6.6% |
DfTc and the executive agencies GPG
The GPG regulations require the department to include its 5 executive agencies in published figures.
The data included in this report includes:
- DfTc (the central department excluding its agencies)
- DVLA
- DVSA
- MCA
- VCA
- ATE
Historically, DVSA has had the lowest mean GPG in the DfT Group and this trend has continued this year.
In most parts of DfT, the mean and median GPG values decreased this year. MCA and ATE were the exceptions, where both the mean and median values increased.
In MCA, the gender pay gap has increased due to men occupying specialist and senior operational roles, which attract higher salaries and allowances. This trend reflects the male-dominated nature of the industry, where women are only beginning to enter, often at more junior levels. In ATE, the gender pay gap has increased due to men occupying senior leadership roles, which attract higher salaries and allowances.
Table 2: mean GPG for DfTc and each executive agency, 2020 to 2025
| Organisation | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc mean | 6.6% | 6.1% | 6.6% | 5.2% | 4.3% | 3.4% |
| DVLA mean | 14.8% | 10.3% | 14.4% | 16.3% | 15.1% | 12.5% |
| DVSA mean | 6.5% | 2.8% | 2.0% | 2.3% | 0.2% | -0.6% |
| MCA mean | 15.5% | 18.0% | 15.6% | 8.8% | 10.0% | 14.9% |
| VCA mean | 27.4% | 27.8% | 27.5% | 27.5% | 28.8% | 24.0% |
| ATE mean | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17.30% | 11.7% | 15.8% |
Note: ATE was formally established as an executive agency in August 2022 so data for earlier years is unavailable.
Table 3: median GPG for DfTc and each executive agency, 2020 to 2025
| Organisation | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc median | 7.7% | 7.2% | 11.7% | 9.0% | 6.7% | 4.3% |
| DVLA median | 3.3% | 0.0% | 7.9% | 16.0% | 8.5% | 3.4% |
| DVSA median | 3.2% | 3.3% | 4.2% | 8.2% | 4.2% | 3.2% |
| MCA median | 15.5% | 14.2% | 14.2% | 3.9% | 6.5% | 15.5% |
| VCA median | 31.3% | 30.3% | 28.6% | 30.3% | 36.6% | 35.3% |
| ATE median | N/A | N/A | N/A | 9.2% | 6.2% | 7.2% |
Note: ATE was formally established as an executive agency in August 2022 so data for earlier years is unavailable.
Analysis of the pay gap
There is a higher proportion of men than women in DfT Group and all constituent organisations except DVLA and ATE.
Women are proportionally more represented at lower grades – administrative assistant (AA) to administrative officer (AO) in particular – and men at higher grades – senior executive officer (SEO) and above.
There are higher proportions of men in the top 3 pay quartiles and a higher proportion of women in the bottom pay quartile.
Percentage of men and women in different grades across DfT
Overall, there are more men (54%) employed across the DfT Group, except in DVLA and ATE, which have higher proportions of women in their workforces (58% and 51%, respectively).
The proportions vary considerably by agency, ranging from 32% women (DVSA) to 58% women (DVLA). Both DVLA and DVSA have a significant number of AA-EO roles.
Proportion of men and women in DfT Group
Male: 54%
Women: 46%
Figure 1: proportion of men and women in DfT Group and each of its constituent organisations
| Organisation | Women (%) | Men (%) |
|---|---|---|
| DfT Group | 46% | 54% |
| DVLA | 58% | 41% |
| ATE | 51% | 49% |
| DfTc (excluding agencies) | 47% | 53% |
| VCA | 38% | 62% |
| MCA | 37% | 63% |
| DVSA | 32% | 68% |
Figure 2: distribution of men and women by grade (DfT Group)
| Grade | % of women | % of men |
|---|---|---|
| SCS | 2% | 2% |
| Grade 7/6 | 13% | 16% |
| HEO/SEO | 25% | 28% |
| EO | 20% | 28% |
| AA/AO | 40% | 26% |
Proportion of men and women at each pay quartile across DfT group
The percentage of women in the first (lowest) quartile has decreased from 65% in 2024 to 53% in 2025.
The percentage of women in the second quartile has increased from 41% to 46%. The percentage of women in the third quartile has also increased, from 38% in 2024 to 44% in 2025.
The percentage of women in the fourth (upper) quartile has stayed the same since 2024 (40%).
Figure 3: proportion of men and women in each pay quartile (DfT Group)
| Pay quartile | Women (%) | Men (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Lower quartile | 53% | 47% |
| Lower-middle quartile | 46% | 54% |
| Higher-middle quartile | 44% | 56% |
| Higher quartile | 40% | 60% |
Table 4: proportion of women in each pay quartile DfT Group and each of its constituent organisations
| Organisation | Lowest quartile (%) | Lower-middle quartile (%) | Higher-middle quartile (%) | Highest quartile (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc (excluding agencies) | 48% | 51% | 45% | 43% |
| DVLA | 63% | 66% | 62% | 43% |
| DVSA | 43% | 26% | 28% | 31% |
| MCA | 53% | 41% | 30% | 24% |
Technical note: VCA and ATE are removed due to small numbers.
DfT gender bonus pay gap
In 2025, the DfT gender bonus gap continues to be in favour of female staff for both mean and median scores. The gaps – both mean and median values – have widened since 2024: the mean GBG widened by 4.1 percentage points, and the median GBG widened by 8.2 percentage points.
Mean GBG
If the mean or average total bonus is the same for men and women, the mean GBG will be 0%. A positive value represents a bonus pay gap in favour of men, whilst a negative value is in favour of women.
Table 5: mean and median GBG for DfT Group
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | -3.2% | -0.4% | 7.1% | -10.4% | -6.1% | -10.2% |
| Median | -7.3% | -3.4% | 8.5% | -11.7% | -4.7% | -12.9% |
The mean GBG for DfTc (excluding agencies) moved +2.4 percentage points to -1.9%: men’s and women’s mean bonus values were closer together this year. Reductions in the GBG were also seen in DVLA (13.6% in 2024 to 9.8% in 2025) and MCA (-19.4% in 2024 to -8.0% in 2025).
The mean GBG increased slightly in DVSA, from 0.4% in 2024 (in favour of men) to -3.6% in 2025 (in favour of women).
The largest shift in the mean GBG was seen in MCA (11.4 percentage points in favour of men).
Table 6: Mean GBG for DfTc and each executive agency, 2020 to 2025
| Organisation | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc mean | -3.1% | 0.0% | 0.7% | -6.6% | -4.3% | -1.9% |
| DVLA mean | 11.0% | 14.5% | 23.9% | 9.1% | 13.6% | 9.8% |
| DVSA mean | 14.0% | -6.2% | 5.7% | 6.8% | 0.4% | -3.6% |
| MCA mean | 3.4% | -9.3% | -4.2% | -17.7% | -19.4% | -8.0% |
| VCA mean | 8.3% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ATE mean | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Median GBG
The median scores for DfTc and DVLA have reduced, whereas for MCA it has increased slightly – a shift of -4.2 percentage points favouring women.
As in 2024, the median GBG for DVSA is 0%: this means that the median total bonuses for men and women are the same.
Table 7: Median GBG for DfTc and each executive agency, 2020 to 2025
| Organisation | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DfTc median | -9.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | -9.1% | -7.4% | -5.6% |
| DVLA median | 18.2% | 17.1% | 20.2% | 12.9% | 13.7% | 11.2% |
| DVSA median | 21.0% | -13.6% | 16.7% | 12.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| MCA median | -6.5% | -62.2% | 0.0% | -16.7% | 0.0% | -4.2% |
| VCA median | 13.3% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| ATE median | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Note: Figures above zero show GBG in favour of men, negative figures are in favour of women.
Technical note: VCA and ATE are suppressed due to small numbers (fewer than 250 people). ATE did not exist as an executive agency before August 2022.
Targeted action to reduce and close the gender pay gap
What DfT has done since 2024 to address our GPG
In 2024 to 2025, activities across the DfT Group have continued to attract women to roles within the department, with all vacancies advertised as open to flexible working, job shares and part-time or full-time.
DfTc
DfTc has launched the carer’s line manager toolkit and renewed its Employers for Carers membership, with a potentially positive impact on women who are more likely to hold these responsibilities.
Menopause in the workplace guidance published and the Civil Service menopause toolkit is accessible to staff.
DfT is an Endometriosis Friendly employer, offering guidance for those navigating reproductive health challenges.
DVLA
DVLA have successfully delivered a mentoring scheme specifically targeting females at SEO grade. 86% of mentees agreed that the scheme has supported their professional development.
Delivered a speed mentoring and empowerment event for International Women’s Day 2025.
DVLA launched the Women’s Health and Development programme in September 2024 (continuing into 2026), which has been nominated for a Civil Service Award.
DVSA
DVSA has conducted extensive analysis of bonuses and incentives within the organisation, using this to inform more robust consistency checking across the organisation, including peer reviews of nominations and recommended bonus levels.
DVSA has sought to attract more female applicants, working to review job adverts, candidate packs and the wider recruitment process to eliminate masculine language and possible bias. This has seen a shift in the gender balance at corporate senior leadership level (Grades 6 and 7), with women now making 43% of the total, up from 35% in 2020.
DVSA collaborated with the Women’s Network (WIN) to develop menopause guidance and facilitate a monthly menopause coffee morning offering support to colleagues on all issues related to the menopause.
DVSA has run an awareness campaign promoting opportunities for part-time working aimed at driving examiners.
MCA
MCA has actively promoted opportunities for women through targeted events, including our celebration of women in maritime and support initiatives led by the Women’s Network.
MCA has implemented a parental mentorship programme to support people returning to the workplace post maternity, adoption or paternity leave.
MCA has continued to raise awareness and provide support around menopause through internal campaigns and resources, such as participation in World Menopause Day, promotion of the Civil Service menopause toolkit, and sessions hosted by the Menopause Hub.
VCA
VCA has continued to develop its employer brand, including material that promotes the diversity of roles and opportunities that exist across the organisation.
VCA advertises its pay bands within job adverts and, in 2024, introduced a clear and documented process on starting salaries.
VCA introduced equality, diversity and inclusion reporting and analysis of in-year performance bonuses at senior leadership level.
VCA has revised its recruitment processes, streamlining the advertised essential criteria, to ensure that roles can be considered by a diverse range of applicants.
ATE
ATE has conducted analysis of key data to inform decision making, including recruitment, performance management, talent management and local recognition awards by gender.
ATE is working towards menopause friendly accreditation and has actively communicated webinars to all colleagues to support discussions on menopause in the workplace.
Actions planned to support continued reduction of our GPG in 2025 to 2026
DfTc
DfTc will:
- implement the updated DfTc equality, diversity and inclusion action plan, in line with the DfT equality, diversity and inclusion strategy 2025 to 2028, which was published in October 2025
- review our practices with diversity in recruitment and focus on increasing female job applicants in key roles where they are typically under-represented, for example, digital
- continue to audit current gender representation across apprenticeship and talent programmes, and outreach activities with DfT interns and with schools, colleges and community groups to promote apprenticeship opportunities to young women
DVLA
DVLA will:
- deliver ‘EnableMe’ mentoring and development programme – supporting colleagues with disabilities, mental health conditions and long-term health conditions – this is currently running with a 73% female mentee cohort
- develop and deliver a female mentoring circle, providing peer-to-peer development support
- deliver ‘MentorMe’ (6-month diversity mentoring and development programme) to female age 50+ cohort starting from October 2025
- continue to provide support, guidance and training around menopause, including a campaign to support men in having confident conversations around menopause and a series of women’s health webinars
DVSA
DVSA will:
- support the work-life balance and flexibility requirements as well as the health and wellbeing of all colleagues
- work with department partners to review and update our recruitment and selection processes and policies to ensure that they are unbiased and enable us to attract and retain a diverse pool of talent – this will include the wide-scale review of driving examiner and enforcement examiner attraction and selection approaches
- provide and encourage the uptake of learning and development opportunities, including:
- a Stepping into Leadership programme for potential Grade 7s and 6s
- a coaching and mentoring platform to enhance the skills and competencies of women and to prepare them for leadership and management roles
- updates to DVSA’s Women into Leadership programme
MCA
MCA will:
- continue to promote opportunities for women in maritime through initiatives driven by the Women’s Network
- review the gender pay gap as part of the People Strategy Group, supported by a dedicated task and finish group to identify actions and ensure they are taken
- review and update recruitment processes and policies to ensure they are inclusive, building on the success of the recent graduate surveyor campaign, which demonstrated the impact of targeted outreach in attracting more female applicants to technical roles
- review the existing ‘recognising positive impact’ and thank you vouchers offer, incorporating evidence from an internal audit to ensure it remains fair and equitable to all
VCA
VCA will:
- seek to support talent management initiatives that increase representation within the organisation – this includes increasing apprenticeship opportunities, which broadens available career pathways
- encourage and educate managers on the benefits of part-time and flexible working
- continue to evolve corporate material to ensure that it is representative
ATE
ATE will:
- undertake a full cultural review to understand what it is like to be a woman working in ATE and prepare an action plan on improvements and support packages for women, decided by women
- continue to use ATE’s People Committee to oversee the way we support ATE women to have a fulfilling career and use our Nomination and Remuneration Committee to oversee succession planning of women into senior Civil Service roles
- encourage female non-executive directors from the ATE Board and DfT female senior leaders to share their experiences across the organisation
- conduct a self-assessment against menopause friendly standards and prepare an action plan to address any gaps in achieving recognised accreditation
Declaration
We confirm that data reported by the Department for Transport is accurate and has been calculated according to the requirements and methodology set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017.