UK school gender guidance could permit "social transition" for young pupils

The UK government has opened a public consultation on new guidance that would allow primary school-aged children in England who question their gender to use different pronouns in certain circumstances, marking a shift from proposals put forward by the previous Conservative administration.

The draft guidance, published by the Department for Education on February 12, applies to schools and colleges in England and is subject to consultation before being finalised and backed by law, Caliber.Az reports per Daily Mail.

Under the new proposals, school staff would not be permitted to adopt social transitioning measures — such as a new name or different pronouns — unilaterally. Any such steps would need to be agreed by the school or college through established procedures, including parental involvement and clinical advice.

The guidance replaces draft recommendations produced in 2023 under the Conservative government. The earlier version stated that primary-aged children “should not have different pronouns to their sex-based pronouns used about them” and included language indicating that secondary school pupils should change pronouns only on “very few occasions.”

It also specified that no teacher or pupil should be compelled to use new pronouns and that teachers should not be prevented from using terms such as “boys and girls.”

Those provisions have been removed in the latest draft. Instead, the updated text states that “schools should be particularly conscious of safeguarding concerns relating to primary aged children,” and adds: “Primary schools should exercise particular caution, and we would expect support for full social transition to be agreed very rarely.”

The new guidance indicates that children as young as four could, in rare cases, be supported in what it describes as a “full social transition” to the opposite gender, subject to safeguards.

The consultation follows political debate over how schools should respond to children questioning their gender identity. The previous draft had been drawn up under the Conservatives, including instructions from then minister Kemi Badenoch that primary schools should not change pupils’ pronouns. After the Labour Party came to power, publication of revised guidance was delayed for 18 months amid internal party discussions.

Tory education spokesperson Laura Trott criticised the new approach, saying: “Primary school children should not be navigating changes in pronouns at all. But shockingly Labour's guidance opens the door to children as young as four being referred to in a way that does not reflect their biological sex.”

The guidance has been backed by Dr Hilary Cass, who carried out the 2024 independent review of NHS gender identity services for children, which led to a ban on puberty blockers for under-18s.

Once the consultation period concludes, the government is expected to finalise the guidance and introduce legislation to give it statutory force.

By Sabina Mammadli