People who identify as black, Asian and/or minority ethnic (BAME) are significantly under-represented in school governance roles, new figures show.

And the proportion of people in these roles - including clerks and governors - identifying as BAME has fallen over the past year, according to a report from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

The latest government data shows that 13 per cent of people in the UK belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group.

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But today’s NFER report shows that BAME people make up just 3.5 per cent of the school governance population.

This figure is down 1.9 percentage points on the proportion reported by the National Governance Association (NGA) last year (5.4 per cent).

Getting more BAME people into school governance

Meanwhile, the NFER found that white ethnic groups were statistically “over-represented”, compared with the national population.

BAME people had also served fewer years on governing boards, the report says.

No BAME people who responded to the NFER’s survey had served on boards for 15 years or more, whereas 12 per cent of white English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British people had.

“Broadly, there was a lack of diversity among those involved in governance, with regards to age and ethnicity, which means that boards are not necessarily representative of the communities they serve,” the report says.

“The research found that white ethnic groups and people over the age of 60 are over-represented on governing boards compared to the national population.

“This was acknowledged by research participants, some of whom reported that they were actively seeking to improve the diversity of their board, especially in terms of age and ethnicity.

“Links with local community groups, increased use of recruitment services and monitoring the make-up of the board can all help to broaden diversity.”

Emma Knights, chief executive of the NGA, said: “NFER’s key findings confirm the importance of issues that NGA has been amplifying and addressing for many years, such as the lack of diversity on boards, the need to tackle governance workload, difficulties with recruitment and retention, and the importance of high-quality clerking.

“We expect that the Department for Education will want to review its role in supporting and promoting volunteering in the light of this report.”

The DfE has been approached for comment.