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Schools resources

As part of our #EqualPay50 campaign, we are engaging young people (aged 14-18) on the issue of gender pay inequality by working in partnership with schools, unions and education networks to deliver a series of interactive lessons on income inequality, equal pay, and the gender pay gap. Find out more in this short overview of the resources.

Lesson plans and teaching resources

Lesson 1: The history of equal pay in the UK
This lesson enables learners to understand the context in which events in the UK and around the world paved the way for equal pay legislation in the UK, in addition to defining what equal pay is. Students will also explore what constitutes “work of equal value” in UK law.

Lesson 2: What is the gender pay gap?
This lesson will define the gender pay gap (in relation to unequal pay), exploring the reasons why pay inequality has emerged and the extent of the problem in the UK. Learners are encouraged to explore the potential causes of gender pay inequality, and consider the implications of the gender pay gap for their own futures.

Lesson 3: The impact of income inequality
This lesson enables learners to critically engage with data on the effects of income inequality, as it relates to both individuals and the incidence of health and social problems within society. Following on from the previous lesson on the gender pay gap, learners will recognise the impact of women’s sustained low pay on their experiences of poverty and deprivation.

Lesson 4: How do you solve a problem like unequal pay?
This lesson enables learners to explore the possible future of equal pay, discover some of the possible solutions that have been advanced by more gender-equal countries, and consider what actions need to be taken by the Government, businesses and individuals to ensure equal pay for women.

Evaluation, feedback and parental consent

Your feedback is so important in ensuring we can continue to improve these resources and make them even better for future students.

By using our resources, we expect teachers to embed feedback into their lessons planning in the following ways:

* Shortened links to all online student feedback forms are included within each of the teachers’ presentations.

Feedback can be collected from students in whatever way a teacher finds most appropriate for their class. For instance, we recommend that if the lessons are undertaken in quick succession (e.g. one lesson per day within one week), the evaluation can be done at the end of the course, with schools combining the feedback forms into one form. However, if lessons are to be spread out (e.g. one lesson per week over the course of four consecutive weeks), we ask that learners fill in a feedback form at the end of each lesson. Teachers are also welcome to undertake class feedback/reflection if that is preferred.

Online Google forms are our preferred method for collecting and analysing student feedback. However, we understand that not all schools or students will have access to the necessary devices in their classes, so there are also paper forms linked above that teachers can print out and send to us in the post, if this is not an option.

The Equality Trust is happy to collate your school feedback and provide you with a summary of students’ learning for your own evaluation purposes.

Support for teachers

We know that young people have a lot of questions! So we’ve pulled together a glossary resource for teachers on the course, to help you feel confident about definitions and answering any questions that may come up.

Please let us know if you think there is anything missing from the document.

How can you teach these lessons at your school?

We welcome any teachers (or parents/carers who are homeschooling) to use the resources, and adapt them as they see fit.

We do ask that you let us know you are using them (please send details of the name and location of your school, number and age of students involved, and which lessons you have used to info@equalitytrust.org.uk), and that you undertake the feedback with both students and teachers, so that we can review and improve the lessons and report the impact of this project to our funders.

We encourage anyone (teachers, headteachers, school governors, parents, and students) to contact the member of staff in charge at your school and ask them about using the lessons.