THE head of an Oxford school has highlighted a gender pay gap in the teaching profession.

Lynn Knapp, headteacher at Windmill Primary School in Headington, appeared on national television as part of debate sparked by the BBC salary scandal.

Speaking on Victoria Derbyshire yesterday, she said: “Men get promoted through the system more quickly.

“You’ll often hear in schools ‘it would be great to have a man on the staff’ - they become a bit like gold dust.

“I know headteachers who manage smaller schools than I do and get paid more because they are male.”

The Department for Education says it is committed to closing the gender pay gap.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail, Mrs Knapp added: “In primary schools, men are rare.

“We I was a teacher, it really struck me that headteachers were predominantly male.

“It’s important to promote in schools that girls have every right to get into professions and have aspirations.

“Boys should have positive role models [too], but headteachers should be appointed for quality of teaching.”