Civil servants biannual diversity dashboard report April 2025
Published 22 May 2025
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Introduction
This statistical release presents figures on the current numbers and proportions for diversity characteristics of civil servants employed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The report covers civil servants within MOD Main Top Level Budgetary areas (TLB) and excludes organisations with delegated personnel functions: Executive Agencies, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Locally engaged civilians.
This statistical release is produced as part of the transparency and accountability of the Ministry of Defence to Parliament and the public. The information has a wide range of users including the media, politicians, academic researchers and the general public who use the information to:
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understand the size and distribution of MOD Main civil servants by individual diversity categories
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assist in understanding the effect of changes in MOD policy, for instance changes to diversity analysis within recruiting
For further information on the MOD Diversity Dashboard Official Statistic please visit:
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Please contact us at Analysis-Civilian-Enquiries@mod.gov.uk. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Main Points and Trends
At 1 April 2025, the headcount of MOD Main civil servants was 36,573. Of these:
46.3% were female, a rise of 0.4 percentage points compared with 1 April 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 6.9% were ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities), a rise of 0.1 percentage points compared with 1 April 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 3.2% identified as being lesbian, gay & bisexual (LGB), consistent with the rate at 1 April 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 15.8% declared a disability, an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared with 1 April 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 11.0% were part time, an increase of 0.8 percentage points compared with 1 April 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 58.4% declared a religion or belief, a fall of 0.6 percentage points compared with 1 April 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— The average age was 47.5 years, 0.3 years older than that at 1 April 2024. —————————————————————————————————————————————
Declaration rates for self-declared diversity fields have decreased over time (figure 1.1). Though reduced by 4.4 percentage points since 1 April 2023, at 1 April 2025 ethnicity had the highest declaration rate of all self-declared diversity fields at 79.9%. The declaration rates of sexual orientation and religion and belief were similar at 72.8% and 72.4%, which decreased by 3.7 and 3.8 percentage points from 1 April 2023, respectively. Disability status consistently had the lowest declaration rate, falling by 8.0 percentage points since 1 April 2023 to 62.1% at 1 April 2025.
Figure 1.1 Declaration rates for ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability status, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
The declaration rates at 1 April 2025 for the age group 16-29 were below 60% in all of the self-declared diversity fields reported in this data release: ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability status. Therefore, the representation rates for these diversity fields have not been presented. Further information can be found in the comments below and accompanying Excel ODS tables.
Declaration Rates are calculated for self-declared diversity fields including ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability status. Declaration rates are calculated from the number of civil servants who make an ‘active declaration’ as a proportion of the total civil servants. To ensure meaningful representation rates for a diversity field, a minimum 60% declaration level is required.
Representation Rates for self-declared diversity fields are calculated from the number of civil servants who select a particular active diversity option as a proportion of the total civil servants within ‘active declaration’. An active declaration excludes unknown and undeclared records, such as ‘prefer not to say’.
Age and grade
At 1 April 2025, the average age of MOD Main civil servants was 47.5 years, which has remained roughly unchanged over the last two years. Around a third (32.7%) of MOD civil servants were 50 to 59 years old, 20.5% were 40 to 49, 18.4% were 30 to 39 and 17.8% were 60 and over, whilst those aged 16 to 29 years were the smallest proportion at 10.5%.
Between 1 April 2023 and 1 April 2025, age band 50 to 59 has consistently been the largest age band, however it has slowly reduced. In comparison, age bands 16 to 29, 30 to 39 and 60 and over have increased.
Figure 2.1 – Age band distribution, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
At 1 April 2025, over a third (35.4%) of all MOD civil servants were in grade bands Higher Executive Officer to Senior Executive Officer (HEO to SEO), followed by 29.1% in grade bands Administrative Assistant to Administrative Officer (AA to AO) (figure 2.2). Executive Officers (EO) represented 17.1% of all civil servants; 10.0% of civil servants were in grade bands G7 to G6 and 1.0% were SCS.
From 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025, the proportions of civil servants in grade bands HEO to SEO, G7 to G6 and SCS increased whilst the proportions of civil servants within grade bands AA to AO, EO and industrial grades decreased.
Figure 2.2 – Grade band distribution, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
Non-industrial civil servants Civil servants who undertake work such as administration, analysis, policy, procurement, finance, medical, dental, teaching, policing, science and engineering.
Industrial civil servants Civil servants employed primarily in a trade, craft or other manual labour occupations. This covers a wide range of work employing professionals such as industrial technicians, air freight handlers, storekeepers, vergers and drivers.
Figure 2.3 presents the age distribution within grade bands. At 1 April 2025, more than half of those in grade bands HEO to SEO (56.0%), G7 to G6 (56.7%), and SCS (50.5%) were younger than 50 years old. Conversely, over half of those in grade bands AA to AO (54.4%) and EO (50.8%) were aged 50 and over. For those in industrial grades, over three quarters (75.8%) were aged 50 and over.
Figure 2.3 – Age band distribution by grade band, 1 April 2025
Sex
At 1 April 2025, 46.3% of MOD Main civil servants were female (figure 3.1). Over time the proportion of females slowly increased, the gap gradually narrowed from 9.7 percentage points at 1 April 2023 to 7.3 percentage points at 1 April 2025.
Figure 3.1 – Percentage of MOD Main civil servants by sex, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
The percentage of females within each grade band has remained relatively constant from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025 (figure 3.2). The proportion of females in an industrial grade consistently had the lowest proportion among all grade bands, at 16.7% at 1 April 2025, though it has increased by 1.1 percentage points since 1 April 2023. For grade bands AA to AO through to G7 to G6, the proportion of females were within 3.8 percentage points of each other at 1 April 2025; EO had the highest proportion at 50.4%, followed by HEO to SEO (49.5%), AA to AO (47.8%) and G7 to G6 (46.6%).
For all grade bands except AA to AO, the proportion of females slowly increased, whilst for AO to AA there was a slight decrease over time. For SCS, females represented 40.8%, a slight increase of 0.4 percentage points since 1 April 2023.
Figure 3.2 – Percentage of females by grade band, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
Grade Charts
Charts by grade band for each diversity category have been compiled based on analysis within the grade band. For instance, for each grade band, the number of female civil servants is divided by the total population and multiplied by 100 to get the percentage of distribution. This means that female and male proportions split by grade band will add up to 100%. The resulting chart represents the proportion (%) of females within a grade. For self-declared diversity fields, the number will be divided by the total active declaration for that grade band, excluding unknown and undeclared civil servants. Grade ‘Other’ has been excluded from the charts.
Further information may be found within the accompanying Excel ODS tables.
At 1 April 2025, females had higher proportions than males in age bands 40 to 49 (53.0%) and 30 to 39 (51.4%). The age band with the lowest proportion of females was 60 and over with just over a third (34.6%). Between 1 April 2024 and 1 April 2025, the proportion of females slowly increased apart from age band 16 to 29, of which female proportions have slightly decreased (figure 3.3).
Figure 3.3 – Percentage of females and males by age band, 1 April 2024 to 1 April 2025
Age Band Charts
Charts by age band for each diversity category have been compiled, based on analysis within the age band. For instance, for each age band, the number of female civil servants is divided by the total population and multiplied by 100 to get the percentage of the distribution. This means that the female and male proportions split by age will add up to 100%. The resulting chart will represent the proportion (%) of males and females within an age band. For self-declared diversity fields, the number will be divided by the total active declaration for that age band, excluding unknown and undeclared civil servants.
Ethnicity
Of those with a known ethnicity, the representation rate of MOD Main civil servants from an ethnic minority background (excluding white minorities) slowly increased from 6.4% at 1 April 2023 to 6.9% at 1 April 2025. Whilst that for white (including white minorities) declined by 0.4 percentage points (figure 4.1).
Of the 2,003 civil servants from an ethnic minority background, Asian or Asian British civil servants (1,035) make up the largest ethnic minority group, followed by Black, Black British, Caribbean or African (497) and Mixed or multiple ethnic groups (449). For further details please see Excel ODS tables 4.1 and 4.2.
Figure 4.1 – Representation rate of MOD Main civil servants by ethnicity, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
At 1 April 2025, both grade bands G7 to G6 and HEO to SEO had the highest representation rates of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) with 8.0% (figure 4.2). Grade bands EO and AA to AO had representation rates of 6.2% and 6.3% respectively, whilst SCS had 5.3%. Industrial grades had the lowest ethnic minority (excluding white minority) representation rate at 3.5%. At 1 April 2025, all grade bands, except for G7 to G6 and SCS, had slightly higher proportions of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) than those at 1 April 2023.
For SCS, ethnic minority (excluding white minorities) representation rates had been decreasing from 1 April 2023 to 1 October 2024, then increasing until 1 April 2025 (figure 4.2). Please note, the time series for SCS should be interpreted with caution as the comparatively smaller size of the SCS means rates are more likely to be volatile.
Figure 4.2 – Ethnic minority representation by grade band, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
The ethnicity declaration rate for civil servants aged 16 to 29 was below 60%. Therefore, representation rates have not been presented. Further information on ethnicity and age can be found in the accompanying Excel ODS tables 4.5 and 4.6.
Sexual Orientation
Of those with a known sexual orientation, 3.2% of MOD Main civil servants identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual and other orientations (LGB). Between 1 April 2023 and 1 April 2025, the representation rates of LGB increased by 0.3 percentage points (figure 5.1).
Figure 5.1 – Representation rate of MOD Main civil servants by sexual orientation, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual (LGB)
Refers to those who self-identify their sexual orientation as being other than heterosexual, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual and other orientations.
At 1 April 2025, industrial grades had the lowest LGB representation rate at 2.0%; and the LGB representation rates for all other grade bands were between 2.7% and 3.7% (figure 5.2). At 1 April 2025 most grade bands had higher LGB representation rates than those at 1 April 2023 by 0.2 to 0.8 percentage points, but for SCS the growth was trivial. Please note, the time series for LGB representation rates by grade must be interpreted with caution as the comparatively smaller size of population declaring their LGB sexual orientation meant rates may be volatile.
Figure 5.2 – LGB representation by grade band, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
The sexual orientation declaration rate for civil servants aged 16 to 29 was below 60%, therefore representation rates have not been presented. Further information on sexual orientation and age can be found in the accompanying Excel ODS tables 5.5 and 5.6.
Religion and Belief
At 1 April 2025 the representation rate of MOD Main civil servants reporting a religion or belief was 58.4%, whilst that for no religion or belief was 39.7% (figure 6.1). From 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025, the proportion of those reporting a religion and belief were steadily falling, corresponding with an increase in declaring no religion and belief.
The most reported religion or belief was Christianity, which accounted for 54.3% of MOD civil servants (14,384) who actively made their declaration. Following Christianity, Hindu (322), Muslim (293) and Buddhist (149) were the three most declared religion and beliefs. For further information on religion and belief, please see Excel ODS, tables 6.1 and 6.2.
Figure 6.1 – Representation rate of MOD Main civil servants by religion and belief, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
At 1 April 2025, MOD Main civil servants in industrial grades presented the highest representation rate in religion and belief at 64.7% whilst HEO to SEO had the lowest proportion at 55.7% (figure 6.2). The representation rate of civil servants reporting a religion and belief in all grade bands decreased from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025. Please note, the time series for SCS must be interpreted with caution as the comparatively smaller size of SCS means rates may be volatile.
Figure 6.2 – Religion and belief representation by grade band, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
The religion and belief declaration rate for civil servants aged 16 to 29 was below 60%. Therefore, representation rates have not been presented. Further information on religion and belief and age can be found in the accompanying Excel ODS tables 6.5 and 6.6.
Disability
The representation rate of MOD Main civil servants who declared themselves as disabled was 15.8% at 1 April 2025 (figure 7.1), an increase since 1 April 2023. See the statistical notes for further information.
The declaration rates of MOD Main civil servants decreased by 8.0 percentage points to 62.1% (table 1, figure 1) from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025. It is important that to ensure meaningful representation rates for a diversity field, high declaration rates are required. Therefore, representation rates for disability status should be interpreted with caution as disability status was unknown for 37.9% of all MOD civil servants.
Figure 7.1 – Representation rate of MOD Main civil servants by disability status, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
Table 1 – Declaration and representation of disability status of MOD Main civil servants, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
| 1 April 2023 | 1 October 2023 | 1 April 2024 | 1 October 2024 | 1 April 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Declaration Rate (%) | 70.2 | 66.8 | 64.3 | 63.0 | 62.1 |
| Unknown (%) | 29.8 | 33.2 | 35.7 | 37.0 | 37.9 |
| Disabled Representation Proportion (%) |
11.9 | 13.8 | 14.3 | 14.7 | 15.8 |
The declaration rates for various grade and age breakdowns were less than 60%, therefore representation rates have not been presented. Further information on disability status by grade band, and disability status by age band can be found in the accompanying Excel ODS tables (Section 7).
Statistical Note From 01 October 2023, the methodology for reporting disability status was updated following a data extract error which resulted in under-reporting of those declaring as disabled. This resulted in an increase in the disability representation rate by ~1.5%.
In August 2024, disability categories were amended on departmental HR systems, but full access to the new disability categories were not available for analysis until February 2025. This change increased representation rates by ~0.5% but had limited impact on disability declaration rates.
Working Pattern
At 1 April 2025 the proportion of MOD Main civil servants working part time was 11.0%, an increase of 0.8 percentage points since 1 April 2023 (figure 8.1).
Figure 8.1 – Percentage of MOD Main civil servants by working pattern, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
Full-time employees are those working 37 hours a week, excluding breaks.
Part-time employees are those working fewer than 37 hours a week, excluding breaks.
At 1 April 2025, grade band AA to AO had the highest proportions of part-time civil servants 12.8%; followed by G6 to G7, which had 12.7%. The lowest part time rate among the non-industrial grades was with SCS at 8.6%. Industrial grades reported the lowest proportion of part-time civil servants among all grades at 7.4% (figure 8.2). The part-time rates at 1 April 2025 for all grade bands were higher than those at 1 April 2023. The ratio of part-time SCS noticeably grew from October 2024 to April 2025. However, the time series for SCS must be interpreted with caution as the comparatively smaller size of SCS population meant rates may be volatile.
Figure 8.2 – Part time representation by grade band, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
At 1 April 2025, only 2.1% of MOD Main civil servants aged 16 to 29 were recorded as working part time, compared to 20.2% of those aged 60 and over (figure 8.3). The proportion of part-time MOD civil servants aged 50 to 59 was 8.5%, lower than age bands 30 to 39 (10.4%) and 40 to 49 (12.2%).
Figure 8.3 – Working pattern by age band, 1 April 2024 to 1 April 2025
Statistical Note
From February 2025 onwards, the process for calculating working pattern was updated following an improvement in data methodology. This resulted in an increase to the part time proportion by ~0.4% (150 headcount).
Further Information
MOD Main civil servants: Includes staff in MOD Main Top Level Budgetary Areas (TLBs), the major organisational groupings of the MOD directly responsible for the planning, management and delivery of departmental capability. These are Navy Command, Army TLB, HQ Air Command, Head Office, UK Strategic Command, Defence Infrastructure Organisation and Defence Nuclear Organisation.
Declaration Rates
The declaration rates for the diversity fields of ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability status are calculated based on self-declaration. Each civil servant can choose from the following options:
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One of the available diversity data fields (an active declaration)
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Prefer to self-describe (text field option to self-describe, an active declaration)
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Prefer not to say (no declaration)
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No response (no declaration)
Declaration Rate is the number of civil servants who make an ‘active declaration’ as a proportion of the total civil servants. To ensure meaningful representation rates for a diversity field, a minimum 60% declaration level is required. ‘Prefer to self-describe’ is included within calculation for active declarations.
Representation Rates
Representation Rate is calculated from the number of civil servants who select a particular active diversity option as a proportion of the total civil servants within ‘active declaration’. An active declaration excludes unknown or undeclared records, such as ‘prefer not to say’. To ensure meaningful representation rates for a diversity field, a minimum 60% declaration level is required to allow calculation of representation rates.
For example, from 100 civil servants, 80 civil servants declare as either disabled or not disabled, and the remaining 20 select prefer not to say or no option selected; this produces a declaration rate of 80%. Of the 80 civil servants who have actively declared their disability status, 8 declare as disabled, and 72 as not disabled; this produces a representation rate of 10% for disabled civil servants. If representation rate was calculated across the whole population including the 20 undeclared, representation rate would be calculated as 8% and understated.
Table 2 - Declaration rates, 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025
| 1 April 2023 | 1 October 2023 | 1 April 2024 | 1 October 2024 | 1 April 2025 | PP Change | 12 Month Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | 84.3 | 82.5 | 81.5 | 80.8 | 79.9 | -4.4 | -1.5 |
| Sexual Orientation | 76.5 | 75.3 | 74.2 | 73.5 | 72.8 | -3.7 | -1.4 |
| Religion and Belief | 76.2 | 74.7 | 73.8 | 73.2 | 72.4 | -3.8 | -1.4 |
| Disability | 70.2 | 66.8 | 64.3 | 63.0 | 62.1 | -8.0 | -2.1 |
In the period from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2025 the proportion of active declarations fell (table 2). The option to positively opt-out of providing details by selecting ‘Prefer not to say’ is available.
* pp change for 2023 – 2025
Rounding
Percentages and related change in percentage points across time periods are calculated from unrounded data and rounded to one decimal place.
Revisions
Occasionally errors can occur in statistical processes. Procedures are constantly reviewed to minimise this risk. Should a significant error be found, the publication on the website will be updated; and an errata slip will be published documenting the revision.
Protected Characteristics
All protected characteristics are analysed and reported on against the relevant minority grouping, defining minority on a numeric basis as the smaller or smallest of two or more groups forming a whole, rather than any broader cultural or sociological definition relating to characteristics of groups.
For reported protected characteristics, the following elements form the numeric minority:
| Sex - Female |
| Ethnicity - Ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) |
| Sexual orientation - LGB |
| Religion and belief - Religion and belief declared |
| Disability status - Disabled |
| Work pattern - Part-Time |
Further information relating to the Public Sector Equality Duty can be found at:
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