Schools Have No General Duty to Allow Gender ‘Social Transition’: Draft UK Guidance

The guidance said parents should be involved except when there’s ‘a significant risk of harm’ and primary school pupils shouldn’t be allowed to change pronouns.

Students take a break between classes at Park Lane Academy in Halifax, northwest England on March 17, 2021. Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

Schools and colleges in England have no general duty to allow children to “socially transition” and parents should be informed of such requests with few exceptions, the government said on Tuesday.

In a draft guidance published for consultation, the Department for Education (DfE) also said schools “must always protect single-sex spaces with regard to toilets, showers and changing rooms.”