Trans pupils could go to single-sex schools

SINGLE-SEX schools could be forced to admit transgender pupils under proposals drafted by watchdogs.

Leaked guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission warns that barring the children would be discrimination.

It means girls’ schools could be ordered to admit children born as boys but who now identify as girls, and vice versa.

The guidance also urged schools to install gender-neutral toilets, changing rooms and showers as soon as possible.

Such proposals have proved controversial among feminists who have argued that female- only spaces should be preserved, particularly for children as they cope with changes to their bodies and hormones. The EHRC said the guidance was only a draft and a finalised version would be sent to schools across England, Scotland and Wales in due course.

It was delayed while the commission consulted teachers, education experts, trans groups and women’s groups.

The document – Trans pupils: guidance for schools in Scotland on the Equality Act 2010: Confidential DRAFT – was leaked to the Daily Telegraph. It said: ‘A refusal to admit a trans pupil to a single-sex school which is the same as the trans pupil’s sex recorded at birth would be direct sex discrimination. Admitting such a pupil will not affect the school’s single-sex status.

‘A pupil who has transitioned, or wants to, must be allowed to continue to attend the school; to remove them would amount to direct gender reassignment discrimination.’

Sue Hincks of the Girls’ Schools Association said: ‘We would welcome any discussion on how best to support transgender pupils in our settings.’

A spokesman from the EHRC said: ‘This will be an important document for schools to help them support all children and meet their legal duties under the Equality Act.’

One in four GCSE entries by private schools achieved the top grade 9 this year – five times the national average.

Data from the Independent Schools Council shows 23 per cent of its entries got this mark, compared with just 4.5 per cent across schools in general.

Grade 9 was introduced to allow universities and employers to pinpoint exceptional candidates, and they are especially useful to admissions tutors at Oxford and Cambridge. The ISC said the average number of GCSEs taken per candidate was 9.4.