Official Statistics

Civil servants biannual diversity dashboard report: October 2025

Published 20 November 2025

1. 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 and Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

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:

• understand the size and distribution of MOD Main civil servants by individual diversity categories

• 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:

• MOD Diversity Dashboard Excel ODS table

• MOD Diversity Dashboard statistics

• MOD Biannual Civilian Personnel Background Quality Report

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.

In line with the Code of Practice, to ensure our statistics provide maximum value, the below changes are being introduced for the next edition of the Diversity Dashboard Official Statistic at 1 April 2026. With the introduction of Defence Reform initiatives, these changes will help ensure the report remains relevant to users and representative of diversity within the MOD Civil Service workforce.

• Expand the report to present information for all MOD civil servants. Currently the report only covers civil servants within MOD Main TLBs; this change would add in MOD civil servants within the Executive Agencies as well (DE&S, SDA, UKHO and Dstl). Numbers and rates would be presented for total MOD civil servants without any distinction between MOD Main TLBs (as is currently) or individual Executive Agencies. Some diversity rates may change (both increase and decrease) as a result of the report covering a larger population.

• Provide Civil Service grade equivalence for all MOD civil servants, this includes removing the industrial grade category and providing grade equivalence.

2. Main Points and Trends

At 1 October 2025, the headcount of MOD Main civil servants was 36,458. Of these:

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46.5% were female, a rise of 0.4 percentage points compared with 1 October 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 7.0% were ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities), a rise of 0.3 percentage points compared with 1 October 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 3.4% identified as being lesbian, gay & bisexual (LGB), a rise of 0.2 percentage points compared with 1 October 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 16.6% declared a disability, an increase of 1.9 percentage points compared with 1 October 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 11.1% were part time, an increase of 0.6 percentage points compared with 1 October 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— 57.9% declared a religion or belief, a fall of 0.8 percentage points compared with 1 October 2024. ————————————————————————————————————————————— The average age was 47.5 years, 0.1 years older than that at 1 October 2024. —————————————————————————————————————————————

Declaration rates for self-declared diversity fields have decreased over time (figure 1.1). Though reduced by 3.7 percentage points since 1 October 2023, at 1 October 2025 ethnicity had the highest declaration rate of all self-declared diversity fields at 78.8%. The declaration rates of sexual orientation and religion and belief were similar at 71.9% and 71.6%, which decreased by 3.5 and 3.1 percentage points from 1 October 2023, respectively. Disability status consistently had the lowest declaration rate, falling by 6.3 percentage points from 1 October 2023 to 60.5% at 1 October 2025.

Figure 1.1 Declaration rates for ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and belief and disability status, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

The declaration rates at 1 October 2025 for 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’.

3. Age and grade

At 1 October 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 (31.9%) of MOD Main civil servants were 50 to 59 years old, 21.0% were 40 to 49, 18.7% were 30 to 39 and 18.0% were 60 and over, whilst those aged 16 to 29 years were the smallest proportion at 10.4%.

Between 1 October 2023 and 1 October 2025, age band 50 to 59 has consistently been the largest age band, however it has reduced. In comparison, age bands 30 to 39, 40 to 49 and 60 and over have increased.

Figure 2.1 – Age band distribution, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

At 1 October 2025, over a third (35.7%) of all MOD Main civil servants were in grade bands Higher Executive Officer to Senior Executive Officer (HEO to SEO), followed by 28.7% in grade bands Administrative Assistant to Administrative Officer (AA to AO) (figure 2.2). Executive Officers (EO) represented 16.6% of all civil servants; 10.5% of civil servants were in grade bands G7 to G6 and 1.1% were SCS.

From 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025, the proportions of MOD Main 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 October 2023 to 1 October 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 October 2025. More than half of MOD Main civil servants in grade bands HEO to SEO (56.7%) and G7 to G6 (57.0%) were younger than 50 years old. Conversely, over half of those in grade bands SCS (50.4%), AA to AO (54.1%) and EO (50.3%) were aged 50 and over. For those in industrial grades, over three quarters (75.6%) were aged 50 and over.

Figure 2.3 – Age band distribution by grade band, 1 October 2025

4. Sex

At 1 October 2025, 46.5% of MOD Main civil servants were female (figure 3.1). Over time the proportion of females slowly increased, the gap gradually narrowed from 8.7 percentage points at 1 October 2023 to 6.9 percentage points at 1 October 2025.

Figure 3.1 – Percentage of MOD Main civil servants by sex, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

The percentage of females within each grade band has remained relatively constant from 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025 (figure 3.2). The proportion of females in an industrial grade consistently had the lowest proportion among all grade bands, 16.7% at 1 October 2025, though it has increased by 0.4 percentage points since 1 October 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 October 2025; EO had the highest proportion at 50.9%, followed by HEO to SEO (49.8%), AA to AO (47.6%) and G7 to G6 (47.1%).

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 41.8%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points since 1 October 2023.

Figure 3.2 – Percentage of females by grade band, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 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 October 2025, females had higher proportions than males in age bands 30 to 39 (51.6%) and 40 to 49 (52.9%). The age band with the lowest proportion of females was 60 and over with just over a third (35.2%). Between 1 October 2024 and 1 October 2025, the proportion of females slowly increased or remained steady 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 October 2024 to 1 October 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.

5. 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 6.5% at 1 October 2023 to 7.0% at 1 October 2025, whilst that for white (including white minorities) declined by 0.5 percentage points (figure 4.1).

Of the 2,024 MOD Main civil servants from an ethnic minority background, Asian or Asian British (1,055) make up the largest ethnic minority group, followed by Black, Black British, Caribbean or African (495) and Mixed or multiple ethnic groups (454). 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

At 1 October 2025, both grade bands HEO to SEO and G7 to G6 had the highest representation rates of ethnic minorities (excluding white minorities) with 8.4% and 8.2% respectively (figure 4.2). Grade bands EO and AA to AO had representation rates of 6.0% and 6.5% respectively, whilst SCS had 5.2%. Industrial grades had the lowest ethnic minority (excluding white minority) representation rate at 3.5%. At 1 October 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 October 2023.

For SCS, ethnic minority (excluding white minorities) representation rates had been decreasing from 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2024, then increasing until 1 October 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

The ethnicity declaration rate for civil servants aged 16 to 29 was below 60%. Therefore, representation rates by age group have not been presented. Further information on ethnicity and age can be found in the accompanying Excel ODS tables 4.5 and 4.6.

6. Sexual Orientation

At 1 October 2025, of those with a known sexual orientation, 3.4% of MOD Main civil servants identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual and other orientations (LGB). Between 1 October 2023 and 1 October 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 October 2023 to 1 October 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 October 2025, industrial grades had the lowest LGB representation rate at 1.8%; and the LGB representation rates for all other grade bands were between 2.8% and 4.0% (figure 5.2). At 1 October 2025 most grade bands had higher LGB representation rates than those at 1 October 2023 by 0.2 to 0.6 percentage points, whilst SCS and industrial grades showed a small fall of 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively. 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

The sexual orientation declaration rate for civil servants aged 16 to 29 was below 60%, therefore representation rates by age 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.

7. Religion and Belief

At 1 October 2025 the representation rate of MOD Main civil servants reporting a religion or belief was 57.9%, whilst that for no religion or belief was 40.2% (figure 6.1). From 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025, the proportion of those reporting a religion and belief was steadily falling, corresponding with an increase in declaring no religion and belief.

The most reported religion or belief was Christianity (14,030 civil servants), which accounted for 53.7% of MOD Main civil servants who actively made their declaration. Following Christianity, Hindu (329), Muslim (291) and Buddhist (151) 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

At 1 October 2025, MOD Main civil servants in industrial grades presented the highest representation rate in religion and belief at 64.5% whilst HEO to SEO had the lowest proportion at 55.1% (figure 6.2). The representation rate of civil servants reporting a religion and belief in all grade bands decreased from 1 October 2023 to 1 October 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

The religion and belief declaration rate for civil servants aged 16 to 29 was below 60%. Therefore, representation rates by age 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.

8. Disability

The representation rate of MOD Main civil servants who declared themselves as disabled was 16.6% at 1 October 2025 (figure 7.1), which was 2.8 percentage points increase since 1 October 2023.

The declaration rates of MOD Main civil servants decreased by 6.3 percentage points to 60.5% (table 1, figure 1) from 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025.

Statistical Note Disability declaration and representation rates should be treated with caution as we suspect that the reported trends are due to the introduction of the HR system in February 2022, which has introduced bias to disability representation rates. We expect that disability representation rates are lower in reality than is reported on the HR system and presented within this report. Disability rates since February 2022, and recent trends should therefore be used with caution. Please see Section 6.1 Overall Accuracy of the BQR for further information.

Figure 7.1 – Representation rate of MOD Main civil servants by disability status, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

Table 1 – Declaration and representation of disability status of MOD Main civil servants, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

	1 October 2023	1 April 2024	1 October 2024	1 April 2025	1 October 2025
Declaration Rate (%)	66.8	64.3	63.0	62.1	60.5
Unknown (%)	33.2	35.7	37.0	37.9	39.5
Disabled Representation Proportion (%)	13.8	14.3	14.7	15.8	16.6

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).

9. Working Pattern

At 1 October 2025 the proportion of MOD Main civil servants working part time was 11.1%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points since 1 October 2023 (figure 8.1).

Figure 8.1 – Percentage of MOD Main civil servants by working pattern, 1 October 2023 to 1 October 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 October 2025, grade band AA to AO had the highest proportions of part-time civil servants 13.0%; followed by G6 to G7, which had 12.6%. The lowest part time rate among the non-industrial grades was with EO at 9.6%. 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 October 2025 for all grade bands were higher than those at 1 October 2023. The ratio of part-time SCS noticeably grew from October 2024 to October 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

At 1 October 2025, only 2.1% of MOD Main civil servants aged 16 to 29 were recorded as working part time, compared to 20.8% of those aged 60 and over (figure 8.3). The proportion of part-time MOD Main civil servants aged 50 to 59 was 8.8%, lower than age bands 30 to 39 (9.8%) and 40 to 49 (11.9%). From 1 October 2024 to 1 October 2025, the part time ratio in age bands 16 to 29 and 30 to 39 have decreased, whilst the part time percentage in age bands 40 and over have increased.

Figure 8.3 – Working pattern by age band, 1 October 2024 to 1 October 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).

10. 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, Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC), Defence Infrastructure Organisation and Defence Nuclear Organisation.

10.1 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:

• One of the available diversity data fields (an active declaration)

• Prefer to self-describe (text field option to self-describe, an active declaration)

• Prefer not to say (no declaration)

• 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.

10.2 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 October 2023 to 1 October 2025

	1 October 2023	1 April 2024	1 October 2024	1 April 2025	1 October 2025	24 Month Change	12 Month Change
Ethnicity	82.5	81.5	80.8	79.9	78.8	-3.7	-2.0
Sexual Orientation	75.3	74.2	73.5	72.8	71.9	-3.5	-1.7
Religion and Belief	74.7	73.8	73.2	72.4	71.6	-3.1	-1.6
Disability	66.8	64.3	63.0	62.1	60.5	-6.3	-2.5

In the period from 1 October 2023 to 1 October 2025, all of the active declarations fell (table 2). The option to positively opt-out of providing details by selecting ‘Prefer not to say’ is available.

10.3 Rounding

Percentages and related change in percentage points across time periods are calculated from unrounded data and rounded to one decimal place.

10.4 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.

10.5 Protected Characteristics

All protected characteristics are analysed and reported on against the relevant minority grouping. In this statistic release, minority is defined on a numeric basis: the minority is the smaller or the grouped two or more smallest groups. Any broader cultural or sociological definition relating to characteristics of groups are not applied.

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:

Public Sector Equality

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