Ministers have released updated guidance on how schools and colleges in England should respond to students who are questioning their birth gender. How is it different to the previous Department for Education (DfE) guidance, released under the Conservatives in 2023?
What is the updated guidance, and who is it for?
It is, officially, just a small part of wider guidance for schools and colleges, titled Keeping Children Safe in Education, which covers everything from the basics of safeguarding, checks on staff and dealing with harassment.
The section on students who might question their gender covers about five of the document’s 201 pages, guiding institutions about what they should do in such circumstances. Unlike the previous guidance it is statutory – it must be followed. It is currently being consulted on, and so will not come into force until September. The DfE says it will then be reviewed annually.
What are the main changes?
There are two specific changes. The first is that the new guidance ends the 2023 document’s outright ban on primary school-age children undertaking what is called social transitioning, the process whereby someone who is questioning their gender might change their appearance or dress, or use a different name or pronouns.
The updated version says it can happen, but that this is expected to be very rare, and should take place only after the school or college uses proper procedures, including parental involvement and clinical advice.
The second alteration is that while the 2023 version said parents should always be informed, the new guidance says there could be very rare safeguarding cases “where involving parents or carers would constitute a greater risk to the child than not involving them”.
More widely, officials say this is intended to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach, which, they argue, was partly informed by culture war considerations under the Conservative guidance.
Is the context for the new advice different?
Yes, and again, in two ways. The first is that it reflects the findings of the 2024 review into gender transitioning and children led by Dr Hilary Cass, which urged caution over gender transitioning for younger children. The new guidance is publicly backed by Cass.
The second change is last year’s supreme court ruling on gender, which set out the necessity of single-sex spaces. The new guidance says schools should not have mixed toilet facilities or mixed sleeping arrangements on trips beyond the age of eight, and “no child should be made to feel unsafe through inappropriate mixed-sex sport”. For socially transitioning students, it says schools and colleges should “sensitively explain” they will not have access to toilets, changing rooms or residential accommodation designated for the opposite sex.
What has the reaction been?
From teaching unions and schools – who have called repeatedly for the guidance to be released – broadly positive. The Association of School and College Leaders said there was a real need for “clear, pragmatic and well-evidenced national guidance”, saying that up until now, schools and colleges had been forced to find their own solutions “amid an often polarised public debate”.
The Conservatives have said it “weakens the role of parents”, and condemned the change over primary-aged children. The party also criticised ministers for releasing it in the afternoon the day before a week-long Commons recess, saying this seemed to be a way to avoid scrutiny.
Why does it only apply to England?
Because education is a devolved matter and one of the policy areas that is not run from Westminster for every UK nation.
