Only one band – Band F – bucked the trend, with white workers earning a marginal 0.6 per cent more. Senior leaders from an ethnic background earn 5.3 per cent more than white workers.

The data emerges despite the BBC’s stated commitment to remuneration that is “fair, clear and competitive,” raising fresh questions about how the publicly funded broadcaster determines staff salaries across its workforce.

In Band A, ethnic minority staff earned 13.2 per cent more, while Band C showed a 5.4 per cent difference and Band E stood at 4.3 per cent. Band D recorded a 3.5 per cent disparity, with Band B at 1.3 per cent.

At the most senior level, minority ethnic leaders took home 5.4 per cent more than their white peers on average.

The annual report also detailed that female senior leaders earned 1.4 per cent more than men in equivalent roles – though men slightly topped females in all bands except two.

Disabled managers received 7.5 per cent higher pay than able-bodied colleagues, while the highest-paid LGBTQ+ staff were remunerated 8.8 per cent more than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts, and earned more in Bands D, E, and F.

The corporation operates several mentoring and career development programmes specifically designed to advance staff from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

These initiatives sit within the BBC’s broader 50:20:14:25 Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy, which sets aspirational targets of a 50 per cent gender balance, 20 per cent ethnic minority representation, 14 per cent deaf, disabled or neurodivergent employees, and 25 per cent from working-class origins.

The BBC has maintained these are goals rather than quotas, with no bearing on pay decisions.

A separate review published earlier this year found that while the BBC had made notable strides in on-screen representation, audiences felt diversity was being “shoe-horned” into programming, sometimes producing portrayals that felt contrived rather than authentic.

Earlier this year, the BBC was urged to abandon “tick box” diversity casting in its dramas following a major independent review commissioned by the broadcaster’s board.

After various historical casts, such asNathaniel Curtis as Sir Isaac Newton in Doctor Who, they were warned that depicting “an anachronistic historical world in which people of colour are able to rise to the top of society as scientists, artists, courtiers and Lords of the Realm” risks “erasing the past exclusion and oppression of ethnic minorities.”

The broadcaster has firmly rejected any suggestion that the pay gaps reflect unequal treatment, maintaining that internal audits have found no evidence of systemic gender-based pay discrimination within the organisation.

The BBC also noted that when measured across the entire workforce, white employees, men, straight staff and able-bodied workers still commanded higher overall average wages. This is because these groups occupy a disproportionately large share of the most senior and best-remunerated positions, which elevates their aggregate figures.

It says that white workers earn 0.7 per cent more than other ethnic groups, and men benefit from 7.6 per cent difference.

However, the corporation acknowledged that ethnic minority staff had moved into higher-paying roles in greater numbers over the past year, producing what it described as the most significant annual shift in its data.

Sir John Whittingdale, the former culture secretary responsible for drafting the BBC’s most recent charter in 2016 said the BBC should be paying employees “entirely on the basis of the value and merit they contribute for the job they are doing.”

A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC is committed to fair and equal pay for all. We continue to monitor our pay gaps closely and do expect to see small fluctuations year-on-year.”

BBC Pays White Staff Less in Every Pay Band Except One as Staggering Salary Gap Revealed

The BBC has come under renewed scrutiny following reported figures suggesting that white employees earn less than colleagues from ethnic minority backgrounds in almost every pay band, with one category standing out as the exception. The figures have reignited debate over equal pay, workplace diversity and the way Britain’s public-service broadcaster measures fairness across its workforce.

The issue is particularly sensitive because the BBC is funded largely through the television licence fee and is expected to maintain high standards of transparency, impartiality and accountability. Questions about how it pays its employees therefore extend beyond ordinary workplace disputes, attracting interest from licence-fee payers, politicians and campaigners on different sides of the diversity debate.

At the centre of the controversy is a straightforward but important question: what do differences in average salaries actually tell us about equality at work?

A gap between groups can be politically striking, but the headline figure alone does not necessarily explain why the difference exists. Job responsibilities, seniority, occupational specialisation, working patterns and the distribution of employees across departments can all influence average pay. Understanding the figures requires looking beyond the headline and examining how the BBC calculates and reports its workforce statistics.

Nevertheless, the reported pattern is likely to intensify pressure on the broadcaster to explain its pay structure and demonstrate that its employment policies are fair, transparent and consistently applied.