Gender pay gap reporting 2025-26: the results are in
08th April 2026
Samantha Gee
The final deadline for gender pay gap reporting passed over the bank holiday weekend. We’ve analysed submissions from 10,588 employers who reported by the cut-off.
There are signs of progress. But only just.
At a top level, the mean gender pay gap has fallen slightly to 10.8%, whilst the mean bonus gap remains unchanged at 30%.
Despite impending regulatory focus aimed at broader inclusion measures (ethnicity and disability), and robust action plans including menopause support, these are still far from mainstream.
The pay gap data
The headline story? Progress continues, but at a painfully slow pace.
| Metric | 2024 – 25 | 2025 – 26 | Change |
| Median pay gap | 8.4% | 8.2% | -0.2pp |
| Mean pay gap | 11.1% | 10.8% | -0.3pp |
| Median bonus gap | 16.8% | 16.7% | -0.1pp |
| Mean bonus gap | 30.0% | 30.0% | 0.0pp |
Overall, the gender pay gap has edged down year on year, with median hourly pay at 8.2% and mean hourly pay at 10.8%.
Our sector analysis highlights persistent disparities:
- Highest mean pay gap: Finance & Insurance (21.6%)
- Lowest mean pay gap: Health & Social Work, and Accommodation & Food (both 5.5%)
The bonus gap remains particularly stubborn, holding at a mean of 30% across both years. This likely reflects the continued under-representation of women in senior leadership and revenue-generating roles.
- Highest mean bonus gap: Arts & Recreation (49.7%)
- Lowest mean bonus gap: Health & Social Work (13.7%)
Voluntary narratives: still underused
Fewer than half of employers are publishing a supporting narrative alongside their data, and smaller organisations are the least likely to do so. And quite shockingly, many of the voluntary narrative URLs shared to the government gender pay portal are in fact broken links!
| Status | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | Change |
| Working link | 41.3% | 43.3% | +2.0pp |
| Broken link | 12.7% | 8.4% | -4.3pp |
| No link | 46.0% | 48.4% | +2.4pp |
The most positive development is the drop in broken links to just 8.4% of employers, suggesting improved data hygiene.
The increase in organisations providing no narrative at all suggests that some employers may have submitted their updated pay gap figures by the deadline but are still finalising their 2025–26 voluntary narratives.
What are organisations talking about?
We used a keyword search to analyse key themes in the voluntary narratives:
| Keyword | 2024 – 25 | 2025 – 26 | Change |
| Equality action plan | 28.8% | 30.6% | +1.8pp |
| Pay transparency | 16.5% | 20.3% | +3.8pp |
| Ethnicity | 13.5% | 13.9% | +0.4pp |
| Disability | 10.6% | 11.0% | +0.4pp |
| Menopause | 10.0% | 9.9% | -0.1pp |
Pay transparency is the standout trend, rising by 3.8 percentage points. This is likely driven by:
- The upcoming EU Pay Transparency Directive (impacting EU subsidiaries from 2026)
- Growing domestic pressure via the Employment Rights Bill
However, progress elsewhere is limited.
With the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill consultation just finalised, the persistently low mention of ethnicity (14%) and disability (11%) is increasingly difficult to justify, particularly for larger employers.
Perhaps most striking is the lack of focus on menopause. Just 9.9% of the 2025 – 26 narratives reference menopause, despite clear guidance encouraging organisations to include it in equality action plans from April 2026, ahead of mandatory reporting from April 2027.
What next?
We’ve been analysing and scoring the voluntary narratives submitted, identifying best-in-class examples across sectors and organisation sizes.
We’ll be sharing those insights, and what good really looks like, very soon.
How we can help
At Verditer, we are specialists in reward including pay transparency and gap reporting. Contact us if you’re looking for external expertise to support with your gender pay gap or equality action plan.
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Related Insights
Employment Rights Act: navigating the new era of pay gap reporting
The first in our series exploring the impact of the Employment Rights Act 2025 on Pay Gap Reporting.
Employment Rights Act: what makes a great gender pay gap voluntary narrative
The second in our series exploring the impact of the Employment Rights Act on pay gap reporting looks at voluntary narratives.
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