UK Politics

The UK government’s latest relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance calls on schools to be “mindful” that there is “significant debate” about transgender identities, and staff “should be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact”.

The Department for Education (DfE) finally published its long-awaited, updated statutory guidance on RSHE on Tuesday (15 July), as well as its response to the consultation held on proposed changes to it.

A statutory review of RSHE guidance was announced by the former Conservative government under Rishi Sunak in March 2023, after the DfE said it had received “disturbing” reports of “inappropriate material” being taught in some schools. Education secretary Gillian Keegan, who supported outing trans pupils to parents, said the review was needed to “make sure all children are protected from inappropriate content”.

The revised guidelines will come into force from 1 September 2026, replacing the previous guidance, and sets out the legal duties schools must comply with when teaching RSHE.

Within the 42-page document, points 67 to 72 – equal to around a page in length – outline guidance in relation to “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender content”.

The word “transgender” does not appear anywhere else in the document.
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Pupils should be taught “the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment”, the updated guidance says, and they should “recognise that people have legal rights by virtue of their biological sex which are different from the rights of those of the opposite sex with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment”.

They should also learn to recognise that people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, as with the other protected characteristics, have protection from discrimination and should be treated with respect and dignity.”

State schools should be “mindful” that “beyond the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment there is significant debate” and “should be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact”. The guidance goes on to give a specific example that schools should not “teach as fact that all people have a gender identity”.

It is also important to be “mindful to avoid any suggestion that social transition is a simple solution to feelings of distress or discomfort”, the guidance goes on to warn, and materials that could “encourage pupils to question their gender” should be avoided.