FEWER male teachers are teaching young people across BCP, figures suggest - however, they are still being paid more than their female counterparts.

The Association of School and College Leaders has called on the Government to reverse the fall in teacher salaries nationally to attract more men and women into the profession.

Department for Education figures show that there were 3,284 teachers in state-funded schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as of November 2021, with 868 of them men.

This means male teachers make up just 26.4 per cent of the workforce in the area in the 2021-22 academic year.

This is down from 26.9 per cent in 2020-21, but above the national average.

Across England, 24.2 per cent of state-funded school teachers are male, the joint-lowest proportion since records began in 2010-11.

The Education Policy Institute said pupil outcomes can be helped when teachers better represent their pupils, but the proportion of men in teaching has fallen almost every year of the last decade.

DfE figures show that despite teaching being a female-dominated industry, men tend to earn more than women.

In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole schools, men earn £41,604, four per cent more than women, who make £40,124 on average.

Men in the area get paid £41,453 on average when they work in the classroom, and £74,295 as head teachers.

Meanwhile, female classroom teachers get an average of £38,697, and heads £73,559.

The Department for Education said employers are encouraged to publish a plan setting out the clear actions that they will put in place to reduce their gender pay gap.

A spokeswoman added: "We are also working with schools to address barriers that can prevent women from progressing in the workplace."