Racial discrimination is deep-rooted, endemic and institutionalised in the education system and is blighting the lives and careers of BME teachers and damaging the futures of children and young people, a new report warns.

Visible Minorities, Invisible Teachers, published jointly by NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union with the Runnymede Trust, sets out the current challenges faced by teachers from BME backgrounds and sets out a series of actions which need to be taken by all involved in the education system to address racism.

The research highlights that BME teachers continue to experience discrimination and harassment as well as greater barriers to pay progression and career progression.

It finds that twice the proportion of BME teachers reported they had experienced discrimination in the workplace (31%) compared to their white counterparts, a higher percentage of BME teachers (79% compared to 64%) believed that they were not paid at a level ‘commensurate with their skills and experiences’, and nearly two thirds of BME teachers (64%) had experienced ‘verbal abuse by pupils’ compared to just over half (51%) of their white peers.