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Inclusive RSE - The Sexuality aGender Toolkit

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Home > Schools and Training > Secondary Resources > Inclusive RSE – The Sexuality aGender Toolkit

• Lesbian, gay and bisexual young people tell us they feel excluded for sexual health education, due to a heavy focus on pregnancy and contraception.
• Trans young people tell us they feel disempowered to engage in sexual health education programmes, due to incorrect assumptions being made about them and their body parts, by the subject facilitator.

Sexuality aGender v2 is a toolkit that enables a broader, more useful set of conversations with all types of young people because it:

• Assumes everyone has a gender, but people might have different ways in which they describe or experience theirs;
• Assumes everyone has a sexuality, but people might have different ways in which they describe or experience theirs;
• Assumes everyone has a body with genitals, but that genitals on one body may look different to genitals on another body;
• Assumes everyone has like and wants, but a person may have different likes and wants to another person;
• Assumes that body parts come together during sexual activity, but what a person might like and want sexually may be different to another person.

Sexuality aGender v2 encourages a youth work approach of exploring these things, not by telling young people what to do, rather by questioning, and working with information that young people supply in that process – working with them from where they are.

FAQ’s

Sexuality aGender v2 is a fully planned out and resourced four lesson/session pack that:

• Can be delivered as part of your PSHE/RSE programme;
• Can be linked to the Relationships and Sex Education curriculum in these ways ;
• Helps you meet your statutory requirements to deliver LGBT+ inclusive RSE;
• Helps you meet the needs of all students, including those that are LGBT+, and those from LGBT+ families, in line with the Equality Act (2010) and Ofsted obligations;
• Is fun, engaging and easy to deliver!

Applicable from September 2021, The Department for Education’s Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education Statutory guidance states that:

“In teaching Relationships Education and RSE, schools should ensure that the needs of all pupils are appropriately met, and that all pupils understand the importance of equality and respect. Schools must ensure that they comply with the relevant provisions of the Equality Act 2010, (please see The Equality Act 2010 and schools: Departmental advice), under which sexual orientation and gender reassignment are amongst the protected characteristics.

Schools should ensure that all of their teaching is sensitive and age appropriate in approach and content. At the point at which schools consider it appropriate to teach their pupils about LGBT, they should ensure that this content is fully integrated into their programmes of study for this area of the curriculum rather than delivered as a standalone unit or lesson. Schools are free to determine how they do this, and we expect all pupils to have been taught LGBT content at a timely point as part of this area of the curriculum.’”

Read the full guidance here .

In creating Sexuality aGender v2, a sexual health toolkit that is LGBT+ inclusive, we are absolutely helping schools meet the above requirements.

This toolkit does not attempt to replace existing schemes of work in this area. Many other sexual health schemes of education exist that cover other topics, for example STI’s and contraception; so we have therefore not included them in Sexuality aGender v2.

What this toolkit does do, is enable meaningful conversations with all young people on related topics that are currently often missing from existing sex education programmes. These include discussing variations in identities, bodies, sexualities, and included within the latter, sexual activities.

Through the open conversations enabled by the toolkit, facilitated by education professionals, we can help develop communication skills within young people. We want young people to be confident in communicating what they want or don’t want, helping them to navigate any sexual or romantic relationships that they subsequently become involved in.

We recommend that the toolkit can be used with young people aged 13 and older. We have selected this age, as this is recognised as the age that young people are starting to come to us in youth groups, and asking questions about things that are not answered elsewhere in their lives.

As a skilled practitioner delivering this toolkit, you will also be aware of the stage that your young people are at, as well as their age. As with any educational resource, adapting the activities to meet the needs of your group is part and parcel of what we do as teachers and youth workers.

We know that many young people have easy access to a broad range of images and information about sexual activities through pornography online widely available through their phones and other devices. Often adults around young people are not aware of the access young people have to this. Learning about a range of sexual activity from pornography might lead to assumptions about what a sexual relationship has to look like. Pornography delivers a narrow, skewed and sometimes violent representation of sex, which may then lead young people emulating this behaviour or being more susceptible to coercion. We want to better equip young people with skills and confidence to enable them to communicate with partners about the types of sexual activities they might want to do now and in the future; and crucially, to communicate about the sexual activities they do not want to do, so that they have more control over their own bodies.

As such, the toolkit comes supplied with two inflatable dice, which form part of the fourth and final session in the pack. Leading up to this, we have already explored variations in identities in session one, variations in bodies and body parts (including genitals) in session two, and variations in different people’s “normal” and “safe” in relation to their own sexuality in session three.

The dice game enables facilitated conversations around the many different types of sexual activities that people may choose to do. The names of body parts commonly used in sexual activities are printed on the dice, and once both dice are rolled, the facilitator to asks the group of the given combination “what is the pleasure associated with this activity?” and “what are the risks associated with this activity?” It very much engages young people with where they are at with their current understanding, from what they have learned about sexual activity from elsewhere. Through this activity, young people are encouraged to take control of their sexual choices and their own bodies.

You can buy the tool kit via our shop here

Sexuality aGender v2 – DICE ONLY

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Liberating the Curriculum

Inclusive Learning and Teaching at UCL

Gender Reasignment

The process of transitioning from one gender to another: for instance, a ‘trans woman’ was assigned the gender ‘male’ at birth but experiences themselves as a woman. Trans people will often but not always present in the style of their gender. They may or may not have, or be planning, medical interventions as part of this (see the  EHRC guidance  for more).

There are campaigns to have ‘non-binary’ included in the category of ‘trans’ and/or to be recognised as a distinct group. Non-binary people might identify as either male or female at different times, a combination of both, a completely different gender, or none at all.

How this pertains to Higher Education

According to the  Government Equalities Office  (2018) there are an estimated 200-500,000 trans people in the UK.  Stonewall give a similar estimate, of around 1% (ie about 600,000 in the UK). The 2021 census ( results due June 28 2022 ) included a voluntary question about this and may help clarify. In addition, younger people are more likely to identify as trans or non-binary ( some statistical detail ) and university is often the first place where they have a realistic opportunity to come out.

In other words, you are very likely to be supporting the learning of someone undergoing or intending to undergo gender reassignment; if not now, then soon.

Common issues for trans and non-binary (NB) people

Despite legal protections, many trans and NB people report enormous prejudice and there are pressure groups who wish the law to be changed, to their detriment. For our purposes, we must emphasise that we are legally  required  to be inclusive towards all students and staff.

UCL has  its own guidance  on this which includes:

UCL recognises that transitioning whether medically or socially can be a difficult and complex time for an individual and wish to act in a sensitive and supportive way by having helpful policies and practices in place. UCL staff will help to make certain that no student is subject to discrimination or harassment as a result of gender presentation.

People are often unfamiliar with  what  is an issue and  why  it is an issue. For instance, access to toilets or using the correct pronoun cut to the heart of ‘belonging as oneself’. We recommend you have a look at the  FAQ from Stonewall  that tackles a lot of common questions.

Medical support

Trans people are broadly more likely to be receiving various kinds of medical care, and this can be very difficult to access on a reliable and prompt basis. They may therefore run into scheduling problems where teaching sessions clash with unmissable appointments which they may have waited years for.

Stereotypes about trans & NB people

One insidious stereotype is that trans people  have already  transitioned, and the process is now complete. In practice, you are quite likely to meet someone who is best thought of as being on a spectrum of transition, perhaps wearing the clothes associated with their gender (ie the gender they identify with) but in other respects appearing to you as their ‘assigned at birth’ gender. Part of gender reassignment requires that someone live in their gender (publicly), and you have to start somewhere. Don’t expect all the details to be resolved. For non-binary people, there may be  no  point at which anything is ‘decided once and for all’. but rather a fluidity that does not fit the norms or markers of either gender. The reason for highlighting this is to emphasise that it is important to pay attention to what people  say  rather than what you think based on appearances.

Another factor is that, irrespective of their gender identity, trans people are treated primarily *as ‘*trans’ rather than female or male, a gender which may be deeply important to them. Conversely they may not wish to be exclusively identified as either. To some this seems complicated; but it is only an issue because of the levels of deliberate micro (or macro) aggression that trans people encounter.

Commonly, abuse encountered by trans people focuses on their not fitting into expected roles ( see for instance this detailed research from the US ) or a refusal to acknowledge that gender dysphoria is accepted by scientists as genuine rather than being ‘a mental condition’ or other ways of denying their reality.

Suggested responses

• Misgendering or ‘deadnaming’ (using a trans person’s former name)  is a hate crime .
• Declaring which pronouns you use of yourself is a reassuring sign that you accept trans people and sets the tone for the class.
• As in so many other aspects of teaching, you should be extremely cautious about commenting on people’s appearance at all (an exception might be if you were urgently alarmed about someone’s wellbeing).
• Acknowledge the role of trans people in your discipline in passing (this may require you doing some googling!) This is not a recommendation to force them into the foreground, just to note that they are full members of the disciplinary community.
• Assume with conviction that you have encountered trans people in the past but didn’t realise. Trans people are told far too often ‘oh, you’re the first…’ (this is also something the media do almost incessantly).

Further resources

• Gender Identity Research & Education Society  have a   useful introductory leaflet  which is a useful glossary of terms.
• Trans staff and students in HE and colleges: improving experiences (Equality Challenge Unit)
• Supporting transgender college students on university and college campuses  (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy)
• (From the US): the Williams Institute provide detailed research and definitions about LBGTQ+ people that are also useful for UK readers. They did a report in 2018 into  Transgender Students in Higher Education .
• The Beaumont Society  is the largest trans support group in the UK. Through its work it promotes better understanding of the conditions of transgender, transvestism and gender dysphoria.
• The Forum for sexual orientation and gender identity equality in post-school education  promotes equality and good practice in employment and the provision of post-school education, with a specific focus on sexual orientation and gender identity, or transgender, equality issues:  https://sgforum.org.uk/ . See for instance their  report for post-school education  which documents bullying and intimidation.
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British Council

How to approach teaching gender equality to boys and girls, by fatma özdemir uluç, 23 february 2017 - 21:00.

27707 licensed under CC0 and adapted from the original .

Fatma Özdemir Uluç, who led a British Council-supported study into gender equality in Turkish schools, tells us how teachers can show children that boys and girls are equal.

What's the most effective way to talk to adults about gender equality?

We start by talking to them about children. Our main argument is that every child has a right to reach their full potential, and gender inequality prevents this by limiting what they can and can't do. Once we explain that that’s why we have to do things differently, then the conversation becomes more open and interesting.

Second, we show how people unconsciously reinforce gender roles. Normally, teachers will protest that they treat both sexes the same. Our challenge is to make them aware that they often behave differently towards boys and girls – perhaps without realising it – and reveal how this behaviour affects their students.

How do you start the conversation?

We asked teachers what they called the children they teach in nursery and primary schools, and found out that boys are commonly referred to as ‘my son’ while girls are often ‘my beautiful daughter’. These are used as general terms of endearment for all young children in southern Turkey (an equivalent would be people calling boys ‘son’ or ‘sport’, and girls ‘sweetie’ or ‘my angel’), but unwittingly, it also forms clear ideas in the children’s heads that they are distinct from each other because of their gender. Adults often use language and adjectives that link very strongly to gender bias.

We also asked teachers how they select students for after-school activities, and found that children are encouraged to choose clubs that 'fit' their gender. Almost all the girls would choose fashion club, and the boys would end up at a plane-making class, or something similar. The child's choice would be heavily influenced by teachers and parents.

I experienced this myself, when my four-year-old daughter came home from pre-school and said, ‘Mum, girls cannot play basketball, right?’ Even at this young age, she had this impression – and she was checking with me. We want all boys and girls to be given a chance to try everything. That way, they can work out what they enjoy.

We look through the teachers' textbooks with them to find examples of gender bias. We found this exercise to be the most helpful way for teachers to understand what gender equality is. In one third-grade textbook, we found a picture of a family doing the house chores together, which looked very positive at first. But when we looked at the speech bubbles attached to the family, the other family members are all looking to the mother to lead: the father is asking what he should do next, and the boy is looking for approval from his mother. So in a subtle way, women are still shown as responsible for household chores.

Do all teaching materials need to be updated as gender-neutral?

Updated books would help to improve the understanding of gender equality in schools. But even if the content of the textbooks does not change, teachers can still point these examples out as examples of gender inequality. This encourages children to think much more critically about the content they read, which is even more important.

What specific exercises can teachers do with children?

We developed a card game where you can match female and male figures doing the same profession, such as doctors and scientists. We adapted this for pre-school children as a colouring exercise, where they can colour the matching cards.

Remember ‘snakes and ladders’? Well, we imagined this as a gender game. Children are given statements related to gender: either positive messages, such as 'everyone has a right to education', 'it is up to us to treat everyone equally', and 'everyone can do household chores'; or negative messages like 'it is more important for boys to go to school', 'male students are lazier', and 'girls and boys cannot play the same games together'.

The children either move forwards up the ladders or backwards down the snakes – depending on whether they agree or disagree with each statement. The aim is to replace negative messages with positive ones, so children who find themselves at the top of a snake have the chance to change the negative message into a positive one. If they do, they get to roll the dice for another turn. This game was particularly popular.

How do you approach this with older students?

We also worked with high-school students, who responded really positively to the exercises we gave them. For example, in literature classes, we introduced an activity on proverbs and idioms, which are extremely well-loved and popular in Turkey. We found many examples of gender bias in Turkish proverbs such as 'a boy grows up to be strong, a girl grows up to be nothing', 'if they say there is a wedding in the sky, women would try to build a ladder', and 'it is the female bird that builds the nest'. We talked about where these perceptions on men and women's roles in society came from, sometimes rewriting them to be more neutral and progressive.

We also rewrote some popular stories and fairy tales. One school we worked with put on a play about Cinderella, casting a boy in the lead role to find out how this changed the story. We talked about the importance of girls and boys having lots of different options in life. Not every girl has to wait for a prince to save her.

Sports are also important. You can very easily see the discrimination here between boys and girls in the options available to them. Boys can play football, but it is  very rare to see a girls’ team . Even basketball is seen as a boy’s sport, so as part of the project, we helped set up girls' football and basketball teams to give the students choices. We also built mixed teams, so everyone could play together – often for the first time.

Why is teaching gender equality important in Turkey?

Turkish school textbooks don’t have a single woman visualised or mentioned in the text as a politician. How can you expect to have women represented equally in parliament, when girls are never told that that is an option for them? We have policies about gender equality in writing, and legislation more or less in line with international commitments – but there is still no change.

Turkish women have had the vote since 1934 and have the same legal rights as men, but they remain far from equal. In fact, even the term gender equality is divisive in Turkey. The government prefers the term ‘gender fairness’ to reflect its views that  women and men are not ‘truly equal’ . More than half (60 per cent) of Turkish young women  do not complete  upper-secondary education, and Turkey ranked  131st out of 145 countries  in the World Economic Forum's gender equality index.

What was it like talking to schools and teachers in Turkey about gender?

The whole issue of gender equality is very new in Turkey, and our target audiences were in remote, rural and conservative areas. Education staff were afraid to do something which might cause controversy, and were not even aware of Turkey's  international commitments on gender equality . Turkey was an early adopter of these commitments, but the UN has criticised the extent to which they have been implemented.

So, first we had to have a discussion about exactly what we meant by this term in an educational context, and why it is so important for Turkish society. We explained that when women work outside the home, it  boosts the economy  (Turkey wants to be a  top ten economy by 2023 , the centenary of the Turkish republic). We also discussed Turkey's worrying  rate of violence against women , and how this damages families and communities. Once you create a common understanding of what gender equality means, then you can get people on board.

What training already exists for teachers?

Most teachers have had no training in gender issues in education. This is the way they’ve grown up and always lived, so they don’t see any problem when, at school, girls clean the classrooms and boys play sport outside. They are used to seeing boys get involved in science activities, while girls sit to the side of the lab and chat, not encouraged to take part. For teachers in many parts of Turkey, this is not disturbing at all. It is normal – and this is why training them is so important.

If there is no equality standard in your private or professional life, it’s very hard to understand that there even is an issue. So at first, we experienced resistance. People were confused about what we were trying to do – whether it was about feminism, or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. They were not sure what ‘gender’ meant, so the ‘equality’ part was hard to explain at first. Once this was clear, teachers could appreciate why it was important.

Teachers and teacher trainers need to understand gender issues, get rid of their prejudices and realise why they should not transmit these to their students. Three or five days of training is a good start, but the subject of gender should form a central part of teacher training before they go into the classroom.

How can we encourage parents to reinforce gender equality at home?

Our main dispute at the start of the project was the role that parents should play. The Turkish education ministry suggested that we should target parents, rather than teachers: it might be too late to focus on gender equality once children have started school at age six, as their attitudes would already be shaped by their families.

But we wanted to work the other way round. We knew that if we targeted schools, the students could pass on the messages to their parents. That is why we always included parents' meetings and training sessions in our campaign, although again, we faced many challenges. Depending on the province, either the mothers or the fathers came to the meeting, but never together. In Urfa in south-eastern Turkey, for example, almost all our participants were men. And once we were working with secondary-school-aged students, it became almost impossible to bring either parent into the fold.

Here's an example. One of our social science teachers set homework asking students to observe their family for a week, and find out who was getting the most tired. A sixth-grade boy reported back that his older sister and his mother were the most tired, because they were doing everything in the house: preparing the food and doing all the chores. Even though his older sister was preparing for her university exam, she was doing all the work – even down to bringing him his tea. The teacher decided to have a parents' evening and carefully discuss ways to treat boys and girls equally. Families are crucial, but to break this vicious circle, schools are the right entry point, through which to raise questions.

Boys also face harmful stereotypes. How can we support boys?

This was an important part of our project. The Turkish education ministry is sceptical about feminism, and thought at first we wanted to ignore boys. We explained that gender inequality is not just about women and girls. It also negatively affects men and boys.

We told them about the link between gender bias and violent behaviour in boys, especially violence against women. This is sadly a significant problem in Turkish society. Domestic violence is related to culturally supported attitudes about who should be in control in a relationship. When we were able to demonstrate the clear societal consequences of the current gender imbalance, the ministry fully embraced the project.

Teachers were also surprised by what our research revealed about their behaviour towards boys in the classroom. For example, boys said that teachers had a no-tolerance attitude to their ‘bad’ behaviour, while when the girls acted in the same way the teachers did not react at all. The boys felt that they picked up the labels of being ‘naughty’ and ‘useless’ quickly and easily, making them feeling side-lined and neglected. We need to focus on boys just as much as girls, and make sure that no one feels left out or favoured.

For the chance to win an iPad mini, take part in the  Women in STEM competition  for Turkish students who want to study Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) subjects, or are considering a career in STEM. The deadline is 8 March 2017.

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• Gender Equality

Gender equality in sport – KS2 lesson plan

PDF lesson plan, Powerpoint and resource

English , Health & Wellbeing

Introduce the concept of gender equality in sport by learning about runner Kathrine Switzer .

The story of inspirational sportswoman Kathrine Switzer, the first female to compete in a marathon, forms the basis for this engaging KS2 lesson.

Pupils will discover that women were not always allowed to compete in some sports. They’ll also have the opportunity to explore their own attitudes to gender inequality.

Asking the children to participate in a drama to persuade the head of the marathon association that women should be allowed to run will appeal to pupils’ strong sense of justice and motivate them to produce some fantastic outcomes.

Gender equality in sport resources

This download contains:

• PDF lesson plan
• Different jobs Powerpoint
• Pretend letter from the Association of International Marathons

Abby King has worked in KS1 and 2 and is a class teacher at St John’s CE Primary in Birmingham. Browse more resources for International Women’s Day .

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• The Red Tree by Shaun Tan – UKS2 cross-curricular planning

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• Education, training and skills
• School curriculum
• Personal, social, health and economic education

Plan your relationships, sex and health curriculum

Information to help school leaders plan, develop and implement the new statutory curriculum.

Applies to England

This guidance is aimed at:

• headteachers and principals
• senior leadership teams
• curriculum co-ordinators
• governing bodies and proprietors

It gives some basic principles to help school leaders plan and prepare for the new statutory curriculum. Schools have the flexibility to design their own curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of pupils and the community, as well as the statutory requirements.

Schools are required to teach:

• relationships education (all primary aged pupils)
• relationships and sex education ( RSE ) (all secondary aged pupils)
• health education (all pupils in state-funded schools only)

Ofsted school inspectors will evaluate the provision for relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education in line with the school inspection handbook and in the context of this guidance.

Independent schools are required to teach personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) education.

Sex education at primary school is not compulsory but can be taught if a school decides that it is appropriate to do so.

All pupils should receive teaching on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ) relationships during their school years. Secondary schools should include LGBT content in their teaching. Primary schools are strongly encouraged, and enabled, when teaching about different types of family, to include families with same sex parents.

Headteachers and teachers must read the statutory guidance in full. It contains information on what schools should do and sets out the legal duties you must meet.

Creating a policy for the new curriculum

It is important to read the developing a policy section of the statutory guidance to ensure you understand what you need to comply with.

All schools must have a written policy in place for the new relationships education and relationships and sex education curriculum.

Policies are typically approved by the governing body, or the appropriate body if that is not the governing body (for example, the trust board).

You will need to decide the outline of your curriculum and consult with parents and carers on the policy before finalising it.

The statutory guidance suggests typical sections you may wish to include in your policy such as:

• details of the content or scheme of work and when each topic is taught, taking the age of pupils into account
• who delivers relationships education or relationships and sex education
• whether you’re using any external organisations to teach part of the curriculum
• how the policy has been produced, and how it will be kept under review, in both cases working with parents and carers, as set out in the advice on engaging parents with relationships education
• how the delivery of the content will be made accessible to all pupils, including those with special educational needs and disabilities ( SEND )
• an explanation of the right to withdraw pupils from sex education classes
• requirements on schools in law, for example (where relevant), the Human Rights Act 1998 , the Equality Act 2010 and the Education Act 1996
• how often the policy is updated
• who approves the policy

Where parents and carers have complaints which cannot be resolved through informal discussion, you should ask them to follow your school’s (curriculum) complaints policy.

Integration to the whole school ethos

You should already have a statement of values and ethos. This may include personal qualities and behaviours you seek to foster.

Consider making a link between your values and ethos statement and your relationships, sex and health education policy.

Adapting an existing programme of study

Many schools who are planning their curriculum for relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education will be doing so within a broader personal, social, health and economic ( PSHE ) education framework .

You could choose to teach the new compulsory content within the PSHE education framework if this model meets the needs of your pupils. The new curriculum and your PSHE education framework do not need to be seen as separate subjects.

PSHE education remains non-statutory in maintained schools although the new subjects cover much of the content typically included in a PSHE education programme. PSHE education continues to be compulsory in independent schools, as set out in the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 .

Before you plan your new curriculum, you need to review your current curriculum plan in light of the statutory requirements. Your school may already have some provision in place that will support delivery. For example, a wider school ethos of inclusion and anti-bullying procedures.

Deciding what to teach at primary and secondary level

The statutory guidance specifies:

• what topics need to be taught at primary level and secondary level
• what pupils should know by the end of each level

It does not break the curriculum up by key stage, year group or age. This is because decisions about when to teach topics will vary by school and context.

Use your knowledge of your pupils to choose whether to:

• introduce secondary requirements in primary with pupils who are ready (with parental consultation and consent)
• include primary requirements in secondary teaching where pupils have gaps in their understanding, to build their knowledge before they progress (this is likely to be needed as the new curriculum is introduced)

Try to identify what pupils already know at the start of a lesson or topic. Topics should be revisited, as necessary.

Consider working with your academy trust or local authority and local public health teams when embedding statutory relationships, sex and health education within your whole school ethos. They can work with you to help make sure:

• you are clear on what has been covered already, for example, what a secondary school pupil might have been taught in primary school
• teaching progresses smoothly from key stage to key stage
• you understand local health profiles of children and young people within the catchment area of the school, which can help you identify priorities in the curriculum
• you have a knowledge of the wider specialist support services (including sexual health services) available to children and young people in the area

Contact your local public health team to find out what tailored local support is available. The names of current local directors of public health are available on the Association of Directors for Public Health website. You can also contact them through your local authority.

Teaching these subjects

These subjects should be set in the context of a whole-school approach to supporting pupils to be safe, happy and prepared for life beyond school. It is important that as you begin to plan your curriculum, you are clear about your approach to pedagogy and connect to wider school approaches on how pupils learn to promote good progress.

The evidence and expert guidance on how children are best taught applies to these topics as to all others.

Teaching should:

• clearly explain the knowledge, facts and concepts needed
• provide adequate opportunities for pupils to recall the acquired knowledge, facts and concepts to develop an understanding of the topic

The training modules provide some examples of good practice and approaches you might consider when preparing to teach about individual subjects.

You can deliver a carefully sequenced and coherent curriculum, by:

• identifying the essential concepts, knowledge, skills and principles of the subject and providing an opportunity for all pupils to learn and master these critical components
• ensuring pupils’ thinking is focused on key ideas within the subject
• working with experienced colleagues to accumulate and refine a collection of powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations and demonstrations
• using resources and materials aligned with the school curriculum (for example, printed or online textbooks or shared resources designed by experienced colleagues that carefully sequence content)
• being aware of common misconceptions and discussing with experienced colleagues how to help pupils master important concepts

A good summary of what we know about effective pedagogy and how to apply it is in the Early Career Framework .

Planning your curriculum

The relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education curriculum complements several other curriculum subjects. You should look for opportunities to draw links between the subjects and integrate teaching where appropriate.

For example, it may be helpful to know:

• in secondary schools when relevant aspects of science (biology) are taught in relation to sex education
• in primary schools when relevant aspects of puberty are taught in science
• when and how physical education covers the benefits of an active lifestyle and cardiovascular exercise
• how content in computing relates to online and media topic
• when literary texts which touch on emotional aspects of relationships are studied in English

Points to consider when planning your curriculum

When planning your curriculum, consider mapping out terms, years and key stages to help decide which topics you will cover and when. Also, consider whether there are topics which will need to be covered more than once as pupils grow in maturity.

You will also need to consider the most appropriate method for teaching certain topics. This could mean having:

• regular lessons – for example, a weekly or fortnightly slot in class taught by the class teacher
• a teacher or other appropriate adult in school who teaches a particular topic to all classes in turn
• additional whole school / key stage assemblies, either led by staff at school or by a carefully selected external speaker or expert - it’s important to remember that assemblies should not be a substitution for timetabled lessons

It is possible that you may see an increase in disclosures as a result of teaching the new subjects. You should remind all staff members of the correct procedures to follow, should any disclosures from individual pupils be prompted by lessons in these subjects.

It is important to read the safeguarding, reports of abuse and confidentiality section of the statutory guidance.

Using external agencies

External agencies can provide speakers, tools and resources to enhance and supplement the curriculum.

It is important when using external agencies to take particular care that the agency and any materials used are appropriate and in line with your school’s legal duties regarding political impartiality, which you can find more information about in our guidance on political impartiality in schools .

Schools are responsible for ensuring that speakers, tools and resources do not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

When deciding on the external agencies and resources to use, you should make appropriate checks to ensure that the agencies’ approach to teaching relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education and the resources that they plan to use comply with:

• your school’s policy
• the Teaching Standards
• the Equality Act 2010
• the Human Rights Act 1998
• the Education Act 1996

You should engage with agencies to ensure their approach to teaching about relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education is balanced and the resources they intend to use are age-appropriate and aligned to the developmental stage of the pupils being taught. Schools should exercise their judgement reasonably, in line with their legal responsibilities, in the selection of providers and resources to be used. You should exercise extreme caution when working with external agencies and proceed only if you have full confidence in the agency, its approach and the resources it uses.

Schools should not under any circumstances work with external agencies that take or promote extreme political positions or use materials produced by such agencies. More information on this, including examples of extreme political positions, can be found in guidance on political impartiality in schools .

It is important to be clear about what you want from an external agency, tool or resource. You should consider the range of options available to ensure what you use is best suited and appropriate to your school and pupils and are of a high quality and sufficient value.

If you are using external speakers to deliver part of the curriculum, then it is important to make sure the expert and any tool or resource they might use meets the outcome of that part of the curriculum.

External experts and resources can also be useful for developing curriculum planning ideas, activities and identifying age-appropriate outcomes.

It is important that you review any case study material and look for feedback from others they have worked with.

You should be clear what they are going to say and what their position on the issues to be discussed are. You should ask to see any materials that external agencies may use in advance.

Make sure you know the named individuals who will be there, any need for Disclosure and Barring Service ( DBS ) checks and that there is an agreed protocol should any safeguarding issue arise, for example from a disclosure.

You should also conduct a basic online search (as parents and carers may do this). It is important that anything you or parents and carers would be concerned about is addressed beforehand.

Before a session with an external speaker, it is important to check protocols for taking pictures or using any personal data the external speaker may get from the session.

Remember teachers should not be afraid to say ‘no’, or in extreme cases stop a session. These are your pupils and you are responsible for what is said to them.

It is good practice for the teacher to be in the room, so they know what was discussed and can follow up with their pupils. They will also understand what has been discussed if a pupil makes a disclosure later.

Choosing resources

There are many external resources available to support the delivery of your lessons, these include:

• lesson plans
• complete curriculum plans
• other classroom materials such as videos or posters

Any materials you intend to use should align with the teaching requirements set out in the statutory guidance.

Many organisations actively promote external resources to schools. It is important when choosing resources to take particular care that any materials used are appropriate and in line with your school’s legal duties regarding political impartiality, which you can find more information about in our guidance on political impartiality in schools .

Schools should not under any circumstances use resources produced by organisations that take extreme political positions on matters. This is the case even if the material itself is not extreme, as the use of it could imply endorsement or support of the organisation.

When deciding if a resource is suitable, you should consider if it:

• aligns to the teaching requirements set out in the statutory guidance
• would support pupils in applying their knowledge in different contexts and settings
• is age-appropriate - think about the age, developmental stage and background of your pupils
• is evidence-based and contains robust facts and statistics
• fits into your curriculum plan
• is from a credible source

It is also important to consider whether the resource is compatible with approaches to teaching which are known to be effective. These approaches are summarised in the Early Career Framework . The resources you choose should deliver knowledge in a way that supports the building of pupils’ confidence.

Resources should also be sensitive to pupils’ experiences as some may have already been exposed or at risk of content being taught. You should ensure that resources do not exhibit any content that may provoke distress.

A series of DfE training modules are also available which subject leads can use to train other teachers.

Creating an inclusive classroom

You should consider what it is like for a diverse range of pupils to be taught about these topics and how individual pupils may relate to particular topics, including complex and sensitive subjects that might personally affect them.

These topics should help all pupils understand their physical and emotional development and enable them to make positive decisions in their lives.

The approach you take to planning and teaching these subjects should take account of those pupils who may be at different stages of cognitive development to their peers. For example, for some pupils in secondary schools, there may be a need to focus on primary content beyond age 11.

You should also make sure the framing of issues is appropriate and that additional time is taken to explain to parents and carers what will be taught and why.

Some pupils may have already been exposed to, or be at risk of exposure to, the experiences and content being taught. Developing a sensitive teaching style will be key to ensuring all pupils feel safe and supported in lessons and able to engage with the key messages.

As well as classroom teaching, you may want to consider other options including digital approaches, one-to-one discussions, teaching in small groups or targeted sessions for some pupils.

Supporting pupils with additional needs

It is important to read the supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities section of the statutory guidance.

Relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education must be accessible for all pupils and this is particularly important when you are planning teaching for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities ( SEND ).

Subject leaders should liaise with the class teacher and special educational needs co-ordinator ( SENCO ) to make sure:

• the needs of all pupils are met
• the curriculum is fully accessible
• education, health and care ( EHC ) plans are followed

If your school is a mainstream school, you should ensure that teaching is differentiated to support pupils with SEND to fully access the curriculum. This might include revisiting earlier topics or spending longer on a topic. Effective use of teaching assistants will support this.

You should also use your own expertise and knowledge to differentiate activities within lessons where needed.

Specialist resources can be used to support effective teaching. You can use the picture exchange communication system ( PECS ) to create resources or image-based books for pupils with SEND .

There are specific duties set out in:

• schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010 to support the participation of disabled pupils
• chapter 6 of the SEND code of practice , to support the participation of pupils with SEND

The Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty

Schools are required to comply with relevant requirements of the Equality Act 2010 . Chapter 1 of Part 6 of the Act applies to schools.

The content of the school curriculum is exempt from the duties imposed on schools by Part 6 of the Equality Act.

This means schools are free to include a full range of issues, ideas and materials in their curriculum. Schools are not required to equally weight all of the protected characteristics within the curriculum.

The Public Sector Equality Duty (as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010) requires all public authorities (including state-funded schools) in the exercise of their function, to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act
• advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it

Relevant protected characteristics are:

• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity
• religion or belief
• sex and sexual orientation

State-funded schools must ensure that the public sector equality duty is discharged when taking decisions.

Pupils should leave school with a proper understanding of the importance of equality and respecting and understanding differences. This includes differences in religion, belief, or sexual orientation.

The guidance for promoting fundamental British values provides some helpful principles to guide practice.

Ensuring content is appropriate

The safety of children is of paramount importance in school.

Teachers should be aware of age-inappropriate material on the internet. Great caution should be exercised before setting any assignment, in class or at home, that involves researching a subject where there is a high risk that a child could accidentally be exposed to age-inappropriate material, such as pornography. Particularly at primary level, you should be careful not to expose children to over-sexualised content.

Knowledge about safer sex and sexual health is important to ensure that young people are equipped to make safe, informed and healthy choices. This should be delivered in a non-judgemental, factual way and allow scope for young people to ask questions in a safe environment. Schools have the freedom to develop an age-appropriate, developmental curriculum which meets the needs of their young people, in consultation with parents and the local community.

You should be mindful of the law and legal requirements and be careful not to condone or encourage illegal political activity, including violent action against people, criminal damage to property, hate crime or terrorism, or the use of illegal drugs.

We are aware that topics involving gender and biological sex can be complex and sensitive matters to navigate. You should not reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by suggesting that children might be a different gender based on their personality and interests or the clothes they prefer to wear. Resources used in teaching about this topic must always be age-appropriate and evidence based. Materials which suggest that non-conformity to gender stereotypes should be seen as synonymous with having a different gender identity should not be used and you should not work with external agencies or organisations that produce such material. While teachers should not suggest to a child that their non-compliance with gender stereotypes means that either their personality or their body is wrong and in need of changing, teachers should always seek to treat individual students with sympathy and support.

You should work together with parents on any decisions regarding your school’s treatment of their child, in line with the school’s safeguarding policy and the statutory guidance on working together to safeguard children .

Dealing with sensitive issues

What is sensitive or likely to give parents, carers or teachers cause for anxiety may vary according to the context of the school.

Conversations within your lessons should not lead to any type of bullying, ostracising or other forms of social or emotional harm. Pupils should be aware of this and lessons should be delivered in such a way to ensure this does not happen.

To help create a safe environment for pupils when teaching these topics, you should consider:

• setting ground rules for lessons, where needed, particularly around not sharing personal information (there is guidance on how to create ground rules in the individual subject training modules )
• stopping discussions if personal information is shared in lessons and following up with pupils later where needed
• not promising confidentiality if a pupil confides something concerning
• telling pupils they can ask for help and they will be taken seriously

Managing a sensitive class discussion

Occasionally teachers may find that managing a whole class discussion is a useful stage in the teaching of a particular topic.

Whole class discussions can be a useful way to model listening respectfully to the views of others.

Distancing techniques

You can avoid embarrassment and protect pupils’ privacy by always depersonalising discussion, for example, using a case study to illustrate an issue.

Pupils can then talk about a fictional character in the case study without having to share personal information.

You should manage and lead discussions attentively. If the discussion is at risk of straying, you need to be prepared to redirect it back to intended topics.

It is generally not helpful to ask pupils to lead or chair discussions on sensitive topics as there can be a greater risk of going off-topic.

Handling difficult questions

Teaching in these subjects should allow appropriate opportunities for pupils to ask questions to check and test their understanding.

Most questions will be relevant to what the teacher has explained, and general questions should be welcomed. Pupils should not feel penalised or censored for asking sensible or relevant questions, even if they are occasionally awkward.

Sometimes, pupils may ask questions which go beyond what the teacher has planned and may stray into sensitive territory.

There is no single way to address all such questions – some may be handled straightforwardly for the whole class to hear.

You should be mindful and explain to teachers that a question may occasionally raise a possible safeguarding concern, and the school’s safeguarding process should be followed in such cases.

The individual subject training modules include advice on handling difficult questions.

Primary level

Some questions may relate to sex education which the school may not be teaching, or not yet. These should generally not be answered in front of the whole class.

Strategies to handle such questioning could include offering a word outside the lesson, referring to another more senior member of staff or offering a simple ‘holding’ answer and mentioning the question to parents and carers at the end of the day.

It is important to read the managing difficult questions section of the statutory guidance.

Secondary level

Questions relating to sex education may come up anytime. There might be pupils whose parents or carers do not want them to receive sex education in school, therefore particular care should be taken when answering questions in front of these pupils.

Where a pupil who is withdrawn from sex education asks a question relating to sex education content, teachers should offer a brief ‘holding response’, usually via a senior member of staff and draw the issue to the attention of the pupil’s parents and carers, unless there is a safeguarding concern and then the school’s safeguarding process should be followed in such cases.

For pupils who are not withdrawn from sex education, it may be appropriate to speak discreetly with the pupil asking the question at the end of the lesson to address their question or to ensure the answer is covered in subsequent teaching which is clearly designated as sex education.

Right to request withdrawal

It is important to read the right to be excused from sex education (also referred to as the right to withdraw) section of the statutory guidance to ensure you understand what you need to comply with.

You should be clear in your published policy when in the curriculum different aspects of sex education are taught.

The policy should state clearly that parents and carers have the right to request withdrawal from all or part of sex education. It should also tell them who to contact to make such a request - this will usually be the headteacher, in the first instance.

When a request is received, consider meeting with the parents and carers to:

• discuss the background to their request
• offer assurances about your school’s approach
• set out the benefits of pupils accessing sex education in school

If parents and carers decline an invitation to a discussion, you must still process their request for withdrawal in the normal way.

If the parents still want withdrawal after such a discussion, unless there are exceptional circumstances, parents and carers’ request should be granted until 3 terms before the pupil turns 16. For example, if the pupil’s 16th birthday is in February of year 11, that point would be February in year 10.

At that point, if the pupil wishes to be taught sex education, you must ensure they receive it in one of those 3 terms and continue to be taught it while the child remains in school.

Right to withdraw – pupils with special educational needs and disabilities ( SEND )

In most cases, there should be no difference in the approach between SEND pupils and other pupils.

However, in cases where the nature or degree of the pupil’s special educational need or disability, possibly combined with their domestic or social circumstances, mean that they are demonstrably very likely to be at unusual risk from sexual activity or sexual exploitation, then your headteacher may judge that an exception should be made.

In such exceptional cases, your headteacher may decline a parental request for withdrawal .

Record keeping and informing parents and carers

You should keep a record of all discussions with parents, carers and pupils concerning the right to withdraw, exceptions and decisions not to grant it.

Where possible, you should share records of all discussions with parents and carers to make sure all parties are clear about the decisions.

Primary sex education (where taught)

Primary schools are not required to teach sex education but must teach relationships education and have regard to the statutory guidance in full.

Primary schools may already have age-appropriate sex education programmes in place. There is no need to change these if your curriculum is working well. However, sex education is outside the content defined for relationships and health education in primary schools.

You need to set out clearly in your policy if you are teaching sex education. You must also be aware of the parental right of withdrawal at primary. You should make it clear to parents and carers in your policy and set out a practical method for them to communicate to school if this is their wish. Stating clearly exactly what aspects of sex education are covered in what terms and years is helpful to allow parents and carers to make this decision.

Parents and carers cannot withdraw their child from:

• relationships education
• health education
• national curriculum science

Read our advice on engaging parents and carers on relationships education which explains why it is important to engage with parents and carers, as soon as possible, and gives tips on how to do this.

Identifying teachers’ needs

Teacher wellbeing.

It is essential that teachers can maintain their own wellbeing when delivering the curriculum. There may be times that a topic triggers feelings or thoughts, including of historic, recent or current trauma.

It is important for school leaders to appreciate the different nature of these subjects, and be understanding of teachers’ individual circumstances and the support they may need.

You may want to engage teachers in considering their own needs in advance.

It is important that teaching is balanced and not dependent on any personal views teachers may have. Teachers should operate at all times within the framework of their school’s policy, the Teaching Standards and comply with the Equality Act . There is no obligation on teachers to offer information personal to themselves or to share personal views.

Teachers are not required to answer personal questions asked by pupils and should consider, with the support of their school, how best to handle any such questions.

Teacher training

Teacher training activities may help your teachers feel supported. You might also consider activities that support teachers to reflect on their own values around the subject and consider ways to present an unbiased and evidence-based curriculum to pupils.

Use the teacher training modules to train groups of teachers on the different topics within the curriculum.

Assessment and evaluation

Schools should have the same high expectations of the quality of pupils’ work in these subjects as for other curriculum areas. A strong curriculum will build on the knowledge pupils have previously acquired, including in other subjects, with regular feedback provided on pupil progress.

Lessons should be planned to ensure that all pupils of differing abilities are suitably challenged. You should identify and assess the needs of pupils who may require extra support or intervention.

Whilst there is no formal examined assessment for these subjects, you could use tests, written assignments or self-evaluations, to capture progress.

Schools should continuously evaluate and review the implementation of relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education, to ensure the quality of provision.

Added a link to the guidance on political impartiality in schools.

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What does it mean for someone to have the protected characteristic of “gender reassignment” under the Equality Act 2010? The government, public bodies, many employers and even employment tribunals are often confused about this.

Having the protected characteristic of gender reassignment does not mean that someone’s sex has changed or give them the right to make other people pretend that it has. 

These FAQs cover the definition of the characteristic and who it covers – and what this means for employers and service providers. 

Download these gender reassignment FAQs as a PDF.

What is the protected characteristic of “gender reassignment”?

What does it mean to have this characteristic , who can have this characteristic , does having the protected characteristic of gender reassignment mean that a person must be treated as the opposite sex , does the equality act outlaw “misgendering”, is it harassment to “out” a person as transgender , can employers have policies which require people to refer to transgender people in particular situations in a particular way , what should employers and service providers do to avoid the risk of harassment claims , should schools have rules about “misgendering”.

The Equality Act 2010 at Section 7 defines the protected characteristic of “gender reassignment” as relating to a person who is: 

“proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex.”

The law refers to this as being “transsexual”. But the term more commonly used today is “transgender” or “trans”. This broadly relates to anyone at any stage of a personal process. For example:

• A man tells his employer that he is considering “transitioning” and is seeing a therapist with the potential result of being referred for medical treatment.
• A man identifies as a “transwoman” without having any surgery or treatment.
• A woman identified as a “transman” for several years and took testosterone, but has now stopped and “detransitioned”.

The Equality Act protects people from direct and indirect discrimination, harassment or victimisation in situations that are covered by the Equality Act, such as in the workplace or when receiving goods or services.

Direct discrimination

Direct discrimination is when you are treated worse than another person or other people because:

• you have a protected characteristic
• someone thinks you have that protected characteristic (known as discrimination by perception)
• you are connected to someone with that protected characteristic (known as discrimination by association).

For example: an employee tells their employer that they intend to transition. Their employer alters their role against their wishes to avoid them having contact with clients.

The comparator is a person who is materially similar in other aspects but does not have the protected characteristic (“is not trans”). 

Indirect discrimination

Indirect discrimination happens when a policy applies in the same way for everybody but disadvantages a group of people who share a protected characteristic, and you are disadvantaged as part of this group. This is unlawful unless the person or organisation applying the policy can show that there is a good reason for the policy. This is known as objective justification .

For example: an airport has a general policy of searching passengers according to their sex. Everyone travelling needs to follow the same security procedures and processes, but it makes transgender travellers feel uncomfortable. This could be indirect discrimination, so the airport reviews its policy and changes it so that any passenger may ask to be searched by a staff member of either sex and have a private search, out of view of other passengers. 

Harassment is unwanted behaviour connected with a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating a degrading, humiliating, hostile, intimidating or offensive environment.

For example: a transgender person is having a drink in a pub with friends and is referred to by the bar staff as “it” and mocked for their appearance.

Victimisation

Victimisation is when you are treated badly because you have made a complaint of gender-reassignment discrimination under the Equality Act or are supporting someone who has made a complaint of gender-reassignment discrimination. For example:

For example: a person proposing to undergo gender reassignment is being harassed by a colleague at work. He makes a complaint about the way his colleague is treating him and is sacked.

The Equality Act also provides that if a person is absent from work because of gender-reassignment treatment, their employer cannot treat them worse than they would be treated if absent for illness or injury. 

Does a person have to be under medical supervision?

No. This was explicitly removed from the definition in 2010. Gender reassignment can be a personal process. 

Must they have a gender-recognition certificate or be in the process of applying for one?

No. The protected characteristic is defined without reference to the Gender Recognition Act.

Do they have to have made a firm decision to transition? 

No. Protection against discrimination and harassment attaches to a person who is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process).

During the passage of the Equality Act, the Solicitor General stated in Parliament: 

“Gender reassignment, as defined, is a personal process, so there is no question of having to do something medical, let alone surgical, to fit the definition. “Someone who was driven by a characteristic would be in the process of gender reassignment, however intermittently it manifested itself.  “At what point [proposing to undergo] amounts to ‘considering undergoing’ a gender reassignment is pretty unclear. However, proposing’ suggests a more definite decision point, at which the person’s protected characteristic would immediately come into being. There are lots of ways in which that can be manifested – for instance, by making their intention known. Even if they do not take a single further step, they will be protected straight away. Alternatively, a person might start to dress, or behave, like someone who is changing their gender or is living in an identity of the opposite sex. That too, would mean they were protected. If an employer is notified of that proposal, they will have a clear obligation not to discriminate against them.” 

In the case of Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover , a male employee told his employer that he was “gender fluid” and thought of himself as “part of a spectrum, transitioning from the male to the female gender identity”. He said to his line manager: “I have no plans for surgical transition.” He started wearing women’s clothing to work, asked to be referred to by a woman’s name and raised a question about which toilets he should use. The Employment Tribunal concluded that he was covered by the protected characteristic. 

Can children have the protected characteristic? 

Yes. In the case of AA, AK & Ors v NHS England , NHS England argued that children who are waiting for assessment by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) do not have the protected characteristic as they have not yet reached the stage of proposing to transition. The Court of Appeal rejected this argument. It noted that the definition of “gender reassignment” does not require medical intervention and can include actions such as changing “one’s name and/or how one dresses or does one’s hair”.

The court concluded:

“There is no reason of principle why a child could not satisfy the definition in s.7 provided they have taken a settled decision to adopt some aspect of the identity of the other gender.”

It noted that the decision did not have to be permanent. 

Is “Gillick competence” relevant to the protected characteristic?

No. “Gillick competence” refers to the set of criteria that are used for establishing whether a child has the capacity to provide consent for medical treatment, based on whether they have sufficient understanding and intelligence to fully understand it.

Having the protected characteristic of gender reassignment (that is, being able to bring a claim for gender-reassignment discrimination) does not depend on having any diagnosis or medical treatment. Therefore Gillick competence is not relevant to the Equality Act criteria. 

No. There is nothing in the Equality Act which means that people with the protected characteristic of “gender reassignment” need to be treated in a particular way, or differently from people without the characteristic. 

Article 9 and 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights protect the fundamental human rights of freedom of speech and freedom of belief. 

In the case of Forstater v CGDE [2021] it was established that the belief that men are male and women are female, and that this cannot change and is important, is protected under Article 9 and in relation to belief discrimination in the Equality Act. 

This means that employers and service providers must not harass or discriminate against people because they recognise that “transwomen” are men and “transmen” are women. Employers and service providers cannot require people to believe that someone has changed sex, or impose a blanket constraint on expressing their belief. 

No. “Misgendering” is not defined or outlawed by the Equality Act. 

In general, people who object to “misgendering” mean any reference to a person who identifies as transgender by words that relate to their sex. This can include using the words woman, female, madam, lady, daughter, wife, mother, she, her and so on about someone who identifies as a “transman”, or man, male, sir, gentleman, son, husband, father, he, him and so on about someone who identifies as a “transwoman”. 

Any form of words may be harassment, but this depends on the circumstances and the purpose and effect of the behaviour. Harassment is unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for a person.   An employment tribunal would also consider:

• that person’s perception
• the other circumstances of the case
• whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect.

Tribunals have emphasised that when judging harassment context is everything, and warned against a culture of hypersensitivity to the perception of alleged victims.

Employment tribunal judgments

As Lord Justice Nicholas Underhill found in Dhellwal v Richmond Pharmacology [2009], a case decided under the Race Relations Act:

“What the tribunal is required to consider is whether, if the claimant has experienced those feelings or perceptions, it was reasonable for her to do so. Thus if, for example, the tribunal believes that the claimant was unreasonably prone to take offence, then, even if she did genuinely feel her dignity to have been violated, there will have been no harassment within the meaning of the section.”

In the Forstater case, the employment appeal tribunal said that it was not proportionate to “impose a requirement on the Claimant to refer to a trans woman as a woman to avoid harassment”. It said that:

“ Whilst the Claimant’s belief, and her expression of them by refusing to refer to a trans person by their preferred pronoun, or by refusing to accept that a person is of the acquired gender stated on a GRC, could amount to unlawful harassment in some circumstances, it would not always have that effect. In our judgment, it is not open to the Tribunal to impose in effect a blanket restriction on a person not to express those views irrespective of those circumstances.”

In the case of de Souza v Primark Stores [2017] , a transgender claimant who went by the name of Alexandra, but whose legal name was Alexander, was found to have been harassed by colleagues who made a point of using the male form of name when they knew he did not want them to, but not by being issued with a “new starter” badge that showed his legal name. 

In the case of Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover [2020] , a male claimant who wore women’s clothing  to work was judged to have been exposed to harassment by colleagues saying “What the hell is that?”, “So what’s going on? Are you going to have your bits chopped off?”, “Is this for Halloween?” and referring to the claimant as “it”. 

Not necessarily. 

A person can be “outed” as transgender in two different ways: 

• Their sex is commonly known and recorded, but their transsexualism is not (for example a man who cross-dresses at the weekend and is considering transitioning is “outed” at work by someone who has seen them at a social event).
• They are disappointed in the expectation of being treated as one sex when they are actually the other (for example a person who identifies as a “trans woman” is referred to as male by a woman in a changing room).

In Grant v HM Land Registry [2011] , which concerned the unwanted disclosure that an employee was gay, Lord Justice Elias found that this did not amount to harassment: 

“Furthermore, even if in fact the disclosure was unwanted, and the claimant was upset by it, the effect cannot amount to a violation of dignity, nor can it properly be described as creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Tribunals must not cheapen the significance of these words. They are an important control to prevent trivial acts causing minor upsets being caught by the concept of harassment.”

The perception (or hope) of transgender people that they “pass” as the opposite sex is often not realistic. Their sex is not in fact hidden, but is politely ignored by some people in some situations. It is not reasonable for them to be offended by other people recognising their sex, particularly if they are seeking access to a single-sex service. Acknowledging someone’s sex, particularly where there is a good reason, is unlikely to be harassment. 

In the first-instance case of Chapman v Essex Police , a transgender police officer felt embarrassed and upset when a police control-room operator double-checked his identity over the radio because his male voice did not match the female name that the operator could see. The tribunal did not uphold a complaint of harassment, finding that the claimant was “too sensitive in the circumstances”.

Yes, but those policies must be proportionate. Employers cannot have blanket policies against “misgendering”, but can have specific policies concerning how staff should refer to transgender people in particular situations. Organisations should recognise that these policies constrain the expression of belief, and therefore they should seek to achieve their specific aims in the least intrusive way possible.

When determining whether an objection to a belief being expressed is justified, a court will undertake a balancing exercise. This test is set out in the case of Bank Mellat v HM Treasury :

• Is the objective the organisation seeks to achieve sufficiently important to justify the limitation of the right in question?
• Is the limitation rationally connected to that objective?
• Is a less intrusive limitation possible that does not undermine the achievement of the objective in question?
• Does the importance of the objective outweigh the severity of the limitation on the rights of the person concerned?

For example: 

• A company provides a specialist dress service to transsexual and transvestites. The men who use the service expect to be called “she” and “her” and referred to as Madam. It is justified for the employer to train and require staff to use this language when serving customers. 
• Staff at a full-service restaurant greet customers as “Sir” and “Madam” as they arrive. The restaurant’s policy is that staff should use the terms which appear most appropriate based on gendered appearance, and to defer to customer preference if one is expressed. This is justified by the aim of creating the service and ambience that the restaurant owners seek to provide. 
• A public body assesses claimants for medical benefits, including individuals with mental-health conditions. It directs its staff to refer to claimants using the terms which the claimants prefer, including using opposite-sex pronouns when requested, in order to make them feel comfortable. However, it recognises that in recording medical information, assessors must be able to be accurate about claimants’ sex. This is justified by the aim of providing a service that is accessible and effective for vulnerable clients. 

The case of David Mackereth v AMP and DWP concerned a doctor who lost his job undertaking claimant health assessments for the Department for Work and Pensions because he refused to comply with its policy on using claimants’ preferred pronouns. The employer’s policy was found not to have amounted to unlawful harassment or discrimination against Dr Mackereth, in the particular circumstances of his job. However, the Employment Appeal Tribunal stated that “misgendering” would not necessarily be harassment: 

“Such behaviour may well provide grounds for a complaint of discrimination or harassment but, as the EAT in Forstater made clear, that will be a fact-specific question to be determined in light of all the circumstances of the particular case.”

Relevant considerations

In Higgs v Farmor’s School [2023] Mrs Justice Eady sets out the considerations that are likely to be relevant considering whether constraining the expression of a belief (“manifestation”)  in order to avoid harassment or discrimination is justified in the context of employment. These include:

• the content of the manifestation
• the tone used
• the extent of the manifestation
• the worker’s understanding of the likely audience
• the extent and nature of the intrusion on the rights of others, and any consequential impact on the employer’s ability to run its business
• whether the worker has made clear that the views expressed are personal, or whether they might be seen as representing the views of the employer, and whether that might present a reputational risk
• whether there is a potential power imbalance given the nature of the worker’s position or role and that of those whose rights are intruded upon;
• the nature of the employer’s business, in particular where there is a potential impact on vulnerable service users or clients
• whether the limitation imposed is the least intrusive measure open to the employer.

Employers cannot force employees to believe that people can change sex, or prevent them expressing that lack of belief except in limited circumstances. So what should employers do to protect transgender people from harassment, and themselves from liability? 

They should have ordinary policies against bullying and harassment, including jokes, name-calling, humiliation, exclusion and singling people out for different treatment.

They should seek to avoid putting people in situations they will reasonably experience as hostile or humiliating.

Ambiguous rules put people in situations where it is reasonable to feel offended. For example, an employer provides “female” toilets, showers and changing rooms, but allows some male staff in because they identify as transgender. This creates a hostile environment: 

• female staff are surprised, shocked, humiliated and upset to find themselves sharing with a colleague of the opposite sex
• male staff members who want people to treat them as women may be challenged or face comments that are intended to intimidate, humiliate or degrade them.

This was the situation faced by the Sheffield Hospital Trust , which had a policy that transgender staff could use opposite-sex facilities. It had to deal with the fall-out when women complained about seeing a half-naked male in their changing room and the male staff member sued for harassment after being questioned about this.

Rather than putting these two groups of people together in a environment where both will reasonably feel harassed, employers should have clear rules about facilities that are single-sex, and also, where possible, provide a unisex alternative for anyone who needs it, including people who feel that they have “transitioned away from their sex” and therefore do not wish to use single-sex facilities shared with members of their own sex. The EHRC last year provided guidance on single-sex services which encouraged clear rules and policies.

It should be made clear to people who have the protected characteristic of “gender reassignment” that having this characteristic does not mean it is reasonable for them to expect others to believe or pretend to believe they have changed sex, or for them to be allowed to break (or expect to be an exception to) rules that aim to protect the dignity and privacy of others. 

If a person breaks a clear rule against entering a space provided for the opposite sex, it is not reasonable for them to feel offended when this is pointed out. 

No. It would not be lawful for schools to have a policy that forbids, punishes or denigrates pupils who use clear words about the sex of other people (such as pronouns, but also boy/girl, male/female and so on), nor to require pupils to refer to some classmates as if they were the opposite sex.

• To do so constrains the freedom of speech of pupils in a way that is unjustified and discriminates against them on the basis of belief. 
• It is inconsistent with schools’ safeguarding duty of care , and with their record-keeping responsibilities, for staff to misrepresent the sex of pupils in their records or in introducing them to their peers. 
• In order to explain and enforce sex-based rules designed to keep children safe (such as who is allowed in which showers, toilets, dormitories or sports teams), schools must be able to use clear and unequivocal language. 
• It is not reasonable to expect that a child at school, or transferring between schools, can avoid being “outed” as the sex that they are . 

We do not think that any policy which tells teachers or pupils to lie about the sex of pupils, constrains them from using clear sex-based language or treats them detrimentally if they do would pass the proportionality test. It is an unreasonable constraint on speech that is neither required nor justified in order to avoid discrimination on the basis of gender reassignment. 

Schools form part of a system that is regulated at a national level. In England that system is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education. It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State to make this legal situation clear across the English school system by issuing the long-awaited DfE guidance. 

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The  Equality Act 2010  is one of the most important pieces of legislation for minority groups in the UK. Here we will also explain how the Schools OUT Classroom will help you meet the requirements of this law and improve the lives of your learners.

You may want to explore this also with your learners. Here are links to two resources that make clear what the Act means.

1)  Equality Act 2010 animation 2) Schools OUT Equality Act 2010  PowerPoint

The Equality Act 2010 introduces a single equality duty on public bodies such as schools. It takes all previous equalities legislation and combines them into one overarching act. The Equality Act specifically protects the rights of people who hold characteristics in one or more of the following groups: race, disability, sex, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment. These groups are called protected strands or characteristics and are detailed below: Age:  Where this is referred to, it refers to a person belonging to a particular  age (e.g. 32 year olds) or range of ages (e.g. 18 – 30 year olds). Disability:  A person has a disability if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Gender reassignment:  The process of or desire to transition from one gender to another. Marriage and civil partnership:  Marriage is defined as a ‘union between a man and a woman’. Same-sex couples can have their relationships legally recognised as ‘civil partnerships’.  Civil partners must be treated the same as married couples on a wide range of legal matters. Same sex marriage legislation is currently being passed and is expected to be law by April 2014 in England and Wales – and around the same time in Scotland. Pregnancy and maternity:  Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding. Race : It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins. Religion and belief/non-belief:  Religion has the meaning usually given to it but belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs including lack of belief (e.g. Atheism). Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live to be included in the definition. Sex:  Legally, the Equality Act describes ‘sex’ as whether someone is a man or a woman. Sexual Orientation:  Whether a person’s sexual attraction is towards their own sex, the opposite sex or to both sexes

Combined characteristics  It is recognised under the Act that a person may be discriminated against due to combined characteristics such as receiving both racism and homophobia.

This combined equality duty came into effect in April 2011 and has three main elements. In carrying out their functions, public bodies are now required to have due regard to the need to:

The Public Sector Equality Duty

1) Eliminate conduct that is prohibited by the Act that is discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

2) Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

3) Foster good relations across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The Schools OUT Classroom and its associated resources give educational institutes the skills, knowledge and confidence to meet all three of these requirements. Much of our work centres on Sexual Orientation and Gender Reassignment (Identity), but we also look at the intersection of identities and know that our impact will help foster good relations across all the protected characteristics. e.g. a disabled 70 year-old man who is gay may suffer prejudice, not because of his sexual orientation alone, but due to prejudice and discrimination both  as a result of his being disabled and gay, old and gay, disabled and old, and all three. In each case the prejudice may be different and come from different groups.

Further points on how to meet these duties:

1) Eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

• Clear effective policy and practice on behaviour and language
• Train all staff, front line and backroom on equalities and diversity issues regularly. Ensure such training includes case studies that are real to them.
• Use surveys and questionnaires regularly to gauge what is happening in the organisation
• Analyse complaints received and actions taken and use outcomes to change and develop practice
• Make reasonable adjustments

2)   Advancing Equal Opportunity

• Equal opportunity is a needs based approach; it cannot work on a one size fits all basis.
• Use surveys, social networks, outside groups to inform you of needs and gaps
• Monitor service users and service givers and explain why you are doing it how you keep things confidential
• Put on the top of the form what you have learnt since the last time you monitored and what you have done to make a positive difference
• Embed learning in all areas of both service delivery and employment

3) How to foster good relations

• Requires tackling prejudice and promoting understanding
• Inform people about the issues – history of oppressions problems of accessibility past lack of inclusion
• Educate – curriculum, images and language – ensure that the diversity of the population of the country not just your patch is represented in all the material you use.
• Use diversity months
• Ensure your material, publicity, forms are inclusive in image and language and intent.

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Gender Reassignment

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Gender reassignment is a protected characteristic and the term refers to someone who is transgender. It includes anyone who has proposed, started or completed a process to change his or her sex. The Equality Act extends pre-existing protections for transsexual people by, for example, prohibiting indirect discrimination and removing the need for a transsexual person to be under medical supervision to benefit from legal protection. In employment, the Act also requires organisations to treat absences from work because someone proposes to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone gender reassignment in the same way or better as absences due to illness or injury.

There is limited data on the number of transgender people working or studying in the University. It is believed that there are likely to be more transgender people in higher education than in the population at large.

• A colleague who was born female decides to spend the rest of his life living as a man. He tells his departmental administrator, who makes appropriate arrangements. He then starts life at work and home as a man. After discussion with his doctor and a Gender Identity Clinic, he begins hormone treatment and several years later he has gender reassignment surgery. In this case he would be protected by the gender reassignment provisions of the Equality Act. His departmental administrator should seek guidance from the School's Human Resources Business Manager who will be able to provide support in managing the transition process.
• A student who was born physically male decides to spend the rest of her life as a woman. She starts and continues to live as a woman. As she successfully ‘passes’ as a woman, the student decides that she does not want to seek medical advice nor undergo any medical procedure/treatment. She would similarly be protected by the gender reassignment provisions of the Equality Act.

Support is provided to Transgender staff members of the University, College or associated institution through the LGBT Staff Network.

Support for Transgender Students is provided by the CUSU LBGT Campaign .

The University has produced Guidance on Gender Reassignment for Staff which provides information on good practice to support staff and institutions in implementing the University's Equal Opportunity Policy in relation to gender reassignment.

The University has produced Thinking Globally , which provides information for LGB&T staff and students working and studying at home and abroad.

Additional information and guidance is available from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Section.

The ECU has produced revised guidance on Trans Staff and Students in Higher Education .

The University has produced a glossary to explain terms related to gender reassignment.

Find out about Trans rights in Europe

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gender reassignment

Definition of gender reassignment

Note: This term is sometimes considered to be offensive in its implication that a transgender or nonbinary person takes on a different gender, rather than making changes to align their outward appearance and presentation with their gender identity. Gender transition is the preferred term in the medical and LGBTQ+ communities.

Word History

1969, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Articles Related to gender reassignment

Merriam-Webster's Short List of Gender...

Merriam-Webster's Short List of Gender and Identity Terms

In case you (or someone you know) has questions about what they mean

Dictionary Entries Near gender reassignment

genderqueer

gender reassignment surgery

Cite this Entry

“Gender reassignment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender%20reassignment. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

Medical Definition

Medical definition of gender reassignment.

Note: This term is sometimes considered to be offensive in its implication that a transgender or nonbinary person takes on a different gender, rather than makes changes to align their outward appearance and presentation with their gender identity. Gender transition is the preferred term in the medical and LGBTQ+ communities.

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