New government guidance on how schools should deal with cases of transgender pupils has said they can “socially transition” to their preferred gender. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson published the new statutory advice this afternoon, which had been delayed for months while Labour grapples with internal arguments over the thorny topic.
Ms Phillipson’s fresh guidance says pupils will be allowed to “socially transition”, but any requests should be treated “with caution”. The Department for Education does make sweeping changes in the right direction, however, with a fresh ban on trans pupils using the bathroom or changing room of their preferred sex. The rules now say that schools must maintain single-sex spaces, and there should be no mixed gender bathrooms for children aged over eight.
Ms Phillipson finally published the guidance after months of delays (Image: Getty)
School trips must also ensure that overnight accommodation is split by the sex of children at birth, not that of the preferred identity.
Schools will also have to be recorded by schools and college.
The “vast majority” of parents will also have the right to be involved in cases where a child is questioning their gender.
The new rules say schools should not initiate steps towards social transitioning, such as when a child requests to be referred to with new pronouns and names, or wear different gender-specific clothes, without informing the parents.
Single-sex schools will continue to be allowed to only admit pupils on the basis of their biological sex.
Dr Hilary Cass, who authored a landmark review on transgender children, said the new guidance is “practical and reflects the recommendations of my review, giving schools much-needed clarity on their legal duties so they can support children with confidence”.
“What comes across quite strongly in the guidance is that proceeding with a social transition is going to be very much the exception, rather than the rule.
Maya Forstater said the guidance facilitates a ‘dangerous fantasy’ (Image: Getty)
“Too many times during my review I heard about schools having socially transitioned young people without involving parents, and parents were in possession of all sorts of knowledge about what’s going on that the school just wouldn’t know about.”
However women’s rights campaigners warned that the guidance remains dangerous for young Britons.
Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, blasted: “Schools are still being left with the idea that they can facilitate ‘social transition’ – which remains undefined – and that they should negotiate this on a case-by-case basis.
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“They are being encouraged to think that children have a ‘birth sex’ as well as some other concept of sex. This has no basis in law or reality, and undermines safeguarding.
“It should be clear by now that allowing children and parents to think that a child who starts their education as a girl can graduate as a boy or vice versa is a dangerous fairy tale.”
