The FCA said it awarded pay rises this year of 11.2% on average to staff aged 18-20 following a pay review.

Many of the younger staff were on graduate programme or apprenticeship schemes where average increases were 10.3% and 11% respectively.

FCA staff aged 21 to 30 received a pay rise averaging 6.1%. 

Colleagues in age groups from 41 to 50 and over 50 received the lowest average salary increase, at 4.4% and 4.1% respectively, the FCA said, as many were already in more senior roles where increases were lower.

The 4.8% average increase across all FCA staff is expected to rise slightly in October once mid-year performance reviews have been carried out concluded, the regulator said.

The average increase was above the rate of CPI inflation which was 2.3% in the 12 months to April 2024, down from 3.2% in the 12 months to March

The increases push the average salary at the FCA, which employs more than 4,900 staff, to £71,290.

The changes follow strike action by some staff over pay and conditions and the withdrawal of a controversial bonus scheme in April 2022.

The new pay data is contained in the FCA’s Pay Review 2024: Equality Impact Assessment published this week. The FCA said the purpose of the Equality Impact Assessment was to assess the impact of its 2024 pay review.

It said: “We wanted to check it did not unnecessarily disadvantage or inadvertently discriminate against any group protected by the Equality Act 2010.”

The regulator said that some of the changes in pay have been made to reduce discerned pay gaps in areas such as gender and among staff in the ethnic minorities or those with a disability.

The FCA said in the review: “Overall, our pay gaps have been moving in the right direction over the last 3 years.”

The FCA said it awarded colleagues at senior manager level and below a salary increase of at least 3.5% if they have delivered a strong performance this year with up to 6.5% for the lowest paid best performers. The average salary award for senior leaders was lower than the average award for colleagues across the organisation, the FCA said.

Different pay awards were applied for apprentices, graduates and level 9 associates in the Supervision Hub and the senior leadership team (SLT). The SLT includes the head of department and director contractual grades.

The average base salary increase follows the annual pay review in April 2024 across the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and sister organisation the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).

This 4.8% average pay increase is expected to rise slightly in October, once mid-year performance reviews have concluded.