The DfE “encourage” both maintained schools and academies to collect diversity data about their governing boards and publish it online.
This recommendation was brought in during April 2023. It was added to the DfE lists of what governing board information should be published online.
It is not a requirement to publish diversity data, just a recommendation. Boards need to think very carefully before publishing this data, for reasons I explain on this page.
“We encourage schools to collect and publish governing board members’ diversity data.”
What maintained schools must publish online
“We encourage academy trust boards to collect and publish diversity data about the board and any local committees.”
What academies, free schools and colleges must or should publish online
What diversity data should be collected?
The DfE have provided no guidance about the specific data they are encouraging schools to collect.
However, the National Governance Association (NGA) provide a diversity indicators form free to non-members.
The NGA diversity indicators form asks for the following data:
- gender identity (but not sex)
- age group
- disability
- sexual orientation
- ethnicity
- religion
- how close you live to the school
- your experience of the school as a parent or carer
- the type of secondary school you attended
- your experience of the care system
- your education after leaving school
- whether you were eligible for free school meals.
What data should be published online?
The DfE have provided no guidance on the specific data that should be published after it is collected.
The NGA are recommending that age, gender and ethnicity are published as a starting point, but say that other data could be published depending on the make-up the school’s local community.
“Not all diversity information will be relevant to publish – as a starting point, we recommend boards report on the age, gender and ethnicity of their membership although other data may be relevant depending on the characteristics of your local community.”
National Governance Association
Your gender identity section on the school website could look like the table below. The NGA provide a template for presenting all the data at the end of their guide on evaluating and reporting diversity responses.
| Gender Identity of Governors | |
| Male | 5 |
| Female | 4 |
| Other gender identity | 0 |
| Prefer not to say | 1 |
Why should schools be very careful if they publish diversity data online?
Some of the diversity questions in the NGA form count as special category data under data protection regulations.
This means data must be handled very carefully, with explicit permission gained from governors to collect or publish it. There are also 10 conditions that must be fulfilled to allow you to process the data.
“The UK General Data Protection Regulation defines special category data as:
Special Category Data, Information Commissioner’s Office
- personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin;
- personal data revealing political opinions;
- personal data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs;
- personal data revealing trade union membership;
- genetic data;
- biometric data (where used for identification purposes);
- data concerning health;
- data concerning a person’s sex life; and
- data concerning a person’s sexual orientation.”
Boards must also avoid identifying any individual when publishing this data. This is where I see a real problem, as many schools have small boards. Even if a governor decides not to share their own data, might they be identifiable from the responses the other governors share?
Say you publish gender identity data, collected using the NGA form. Your website shows you have five governors who identify as male and five as female. But then a new governor joins the board and they record their gender as non-binary. You update your website. Can anyone guess which governor is non-binary?
Or perhaps a school publishes sexuality data (which I would not recommend). Nine governors have recorded that they’re heterosexual. One governor has opted out. Nine governors sometimes mention a husband or wife. One never talks about their personal life. Which governor do you think opted out and why?
How can we avoid identifying individual governors?
You can make a judgement call about the size of your board, but if you are in a single school I would suggest it is very likely you could identify an individual if you choose to publish diversity data.
Therefore you could instead ask governors for permission to collect the data, but not publish it. Data can be collated by the clerk and examined internally. It can be shared with the board as anonymously as possible, with the clerk ensuring that no-one can be identified personally.
On your website you could post a note that explains why you do not publish diversity data for governors. Below is a note you are welcome to use.
The governors of Malory Towers School believe it is important that boards reflect the diversity of the school communities they serve. Diverse boards promote inclusive school environments and provide diverse role models for staff and young people.
The governors are currently collecting data on the diversity of the board, including data on age, gender and ethnicity. They will use that data to inform their recruitment and training needs and ensure there is a diverse range of perspectives around the table to support robust decision making.
Due to our relatively small governing body we do not publish this diversity data online as individual governors could be identified and we have a legal obligation to protect their personal data.
Why do the DfE want the data to be published?
They say they want boards to be “increasingly reflective” of the communities they serve. For example, a board where all governors are white will not reflect a pupil and parent community where a significant percentage of people are black or Asian.
Collecting the data internally makes sense to me, because boards can then act on any gaps. For example, if you find that no governor has experience of the care system you could arrange for training on looked after children. I am less convinced of the value of publishing this data.
Can schools insist that governors share their personal data?
Definitely not. Schools must allow governors to opt out of sharing personal data, including data on any of the protected characteristics from the Equality Act 2010.
The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.