How we manage EO&D

We've developed a number of tools and initiatives to help us promote equal opportunity and manage diversity.   

Diversity Assessment Framework

This is our overarching diversity measurement tool and is used to assess progress organisation-wide with mainstreaming diversity. Each British Council offices reviews their work and gathers evidence against a series of different indicators. There are two mandatory levels and an optional best practice level. Submissions for them are done via a combination of evidence and signed assurance statements.. The mandatory levels are assessed by a panel and a score is awarded from 1 to 10 which then forms part of the country’s overall performance evaluation in the organisation’s performance scorecard.

Equality monitoring

We have been collecting data from our UK contracted staff and analysing it each year since 2001. The data we collect includes details of age, disability, ethnicity/race, gender, religion/belief, sexual orientation and working pattern. Equality monitoring helps us to build up a detailed picture of who we employ and this helps us to assess the impact of our Equal Opportunity Policy and Diversity Strategy. From the recommendations, we can examine our processes, identify trends and patterns, highlight progress and note where further action is needed to ensure unjustified discrimination is eliminated and equality is promoted. Please read our latest equality monitoring report.

Equality screening and impact assessment

This refers to a formal process where we review the likely impact of all proposed policies, functions or practices on different groups of people.

This helps us to think about how our suggested way of working might affect different groups and consider if there is any potential for unjustified discrimination that we could change, or any opportunity to promote equality that we could introduce. To find out more about our equality screening and impact assessment please contact the diversity unit.

Disability Advisory Panel

Our Disability Advisory Panel are an external group with significant personal and/or professional experience in the area of disability, who have agreed to help us promote disability equality across all aspects of our work. The Panel includes people from a wide age range, different regions of the UK, and offers a broad spectrum of experience of disability, including physical, sensory, learning and mental health.

Disability Working Group
Our internal Disability Working Group is comprised by staff from across the UK who give 5% of their time to the group. They meet about six times a year and help us to take forward the disability related action points in our Integrated Equality Scheme and to generally keep disability on the corporate agenda.

Equal Opportunity Training
We use various methods of training in order to ensure all our staff have EO and Diversity training and development. The training consists of: The EOD Resources toolkit which is developed to help colleagues put together workshops and sessions on different aspects of EO&D. The British Council Learning Site that explains in full the package of EO and Diversity training and development. Face to face EO and Diversity Workshops. Online courses on Equal Opportunities as well as Performance Management and Recruitment and Selection.

Disability Symbol - double tick
The disability symbol is made out of two ticks and the words 'positive about people'and is awarded by Jobcenter Plus. This symbol is displayed in our job adverts, application forms and other marketing material and demonstrates the fact that we are'positive about disabled people'.