Gender guidance for schools out for consultation

The Department for Education has launched a consultation on new guidance for teachers on how best to support pupils questioning their gender in schools.

This includes requests from pupils for ‘social transition’ which can include requests to change pronouns, names, and uniform.

Ofsted Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, said: "I have long called for clear guidance for schools who face difficult choices around how to help pupils who are gender-questioning.
This guidance is therefore welcome and will help schools do their best both for gender-questioning pupils and for all other pupils in their schools."

This guidance has been developed with the expert clinical view and interim conclusions from the Cass Review in mind. That review set out that social transition is not a neutral act, and that better information is needed about the outcomes for children who undertake degrees of social transition. It also set out that it could have significant psychological effects on a young person.

In recognition of this, proper use of this guidance means social transition, in practice, should be extremely rare when the appropriate safeguards are put in place and the child’s best interest taken into account.

Importantly, the guidance places beyond doubt the fundamental principle that parents should be involved in decisions about their children’s lives, and that significant decisions affecting a child’s future should not be taken without parents being involved.

In regard to single-sex spaces and sports, the government sets out the principle that biological sex is fundamentally important when it comes to protecting safety and ensuring fairness in competitive sports.

The draft guidance clarifies that schools and colleges do not have to, and should not, accept all requests for social transition. Where a school considers a request, they should take a very cautious approach, including watchful waiting periods, and ensuring parents are fully consulted before any decision is taken.

From the outset, schools and colleges should also consider the context and seriousness of the request including whether social influence is involved.

In exceptional cases where a request to social transition is agreed, children, teachers or staff at a school should not be required to adopt the use of preferred pronouns and there must be no sanction, verbal or otherwise. Where a teacher or child does not adopt the new pronouns, they should use the child’s preferred name. Schools should ensure that bullying is never tolerated.

Where safety is a consideration – for example in physical sport or single-sex spaces – the guidance is categoric that it must never be compromised by allowing a child of the opposite sex to participate in those activities or use those facilities. Schools should also make sure competitive sport is fair, which will almost always mean separate sports for boys and girls especially in older cohorts.

The guidance also reaffirms that single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the opposite sex, regardless of whether they are questioning their gender.