Our policy and strategy
Our equality, diversity and inclusion policy and our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy explain our approach, which is to try to make sure that EDI is central to everything we do.
Our employees
We want the British Council to be an inclusive place to work. We aim to create opportunities and reduce barriers for everyone, particularly under-represented groups. We are committed to making sure there is no unjustified discrimination in our processes for recruitment and selection, performance management and pay, and that promotion and retention is fairly granted across all our operations.
We are a Disability Confident employer. This means we welcome and want to attract, recruit and retain disabled people within our workforce, so we can benefit from their skills and talents. The Disability Confident scheme is owned by UK Government and replaces the previous Two Ticks scheme.
Carrying out our work
Equality, diversity and inclusion runs through much of our work around the world, whether in the arts, society, inclusive education, teaching English or offering exams. Our goal is to develop inclusive programmes and projects that bring together people with different experiences and backgrounds. We hope this will make everyone's experiences richer, and ultimately lead to more inclusive societies.
We focus on six areas of diversity, aligned to those protected by UK equality legislation:
- age
- disability
- ethnicity or race
- gender
- religion or belief
- sexual identity.
We recognise that these areas intersect and form our identity, together with other characteristics, such as socio-economic status and geographical location. We help colleagues understand the business case, the moral/ethical case and the legal case for our commitment to equality.