Colleges have been told to take a “very careful approach” to social transition requests from gender-questioning students under long-awaited new government guidance.
The Department for Education (DfE) is consulting on draft guidance on supporting children and young people aged under 18 who are questioning their gender, which, if signed off, would become part of the statutory keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) guidance.
College leaders have urged the sector to respond to the consultation so the final guidance “recognises that children of different ages face different types of risks” and “have greater personal agency”.
It comes after the landmark Cass Review of gender care services for under-18s, which found “remarkably weak” evidence around medical interventions in gender care, with a lack of research available.
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the proposed guidance should “give teachers the clarity they need to ensure the safeguarding and wellbeing of gender questioning children and young people”.
‘Very careful’ approach
The guidance states colleges should take a “very careful approach in relation to social transition”.
“The Cass Review acknowledged that there is a lack of good evidence on the long-term impact of social transition on young people, but it is clear that social transition should be viewed as an active intervention that may have significant effects on the child or young person in terms of their psychological functioning and longer-term outcomes.”
The guidance states that parents should be involved in the “vast majority” of cases in which a young person questions their gender. However in cases where involving parents or carers “would constitute a greater risk than not involving them,” college designated safeguarding leads (DSL) get to decide next steps.
What is in the best interests of the child may be different to the child’s wishes, the draft guidance adds.
The guidance uses “child” throughout to describe under 18s.
Polly Harrow, DfE’s further education student support champion and vice principal at Kirklees College, said the guidance “will be welcomed by the FE sector”.
She added: “The guidance is useful for all educators and gives clear information and advice on an issue that needs clarity and sensitivity.”
Colleges “should not initiate any action regarding social transition”, and the guidance only applies where a young person or their parent has made a request, it states.
The first step for colleges is to consider what is in the best interests of the child and other children.
“Schools and colleges should consider everything that could be affecting a child, including whether they have any wider health issues or neurodiversity,” the draft guidance states.
‘No exceptions’ for single-sex facilities
The draft guidance said there are “no exceptions” for single sex facilities in colleges, including toilets and changing rooms.
It states colleges should “take time to sensitively explain” that supporting social transition “will not include allowing access to toilets, changing rooms or boarding or residential accommodation designated for the opposite sex”.
Young people undergoing social transition will not be allowed to join PE classes for the opposite sex where there are safety reasons for single-sex classes, the draft guidance adds.
But colleges have some flexibility over the use of children’s names.
The draft guidance states “supporting social transition might consider discussing options with pupils and staff, such as using names instead of pronouns”.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said the guidance “may need to go further in acknowledging that older children, including college students, often have personal agency and different relationships with their families.
“The college sector will respond to the consultation in detail, and we hope that this will lead to a better document that will help staff to support and safeguard all their students.”
‘Pragmatic support for teachers’
Phillipson said the draft guidance will “give teachers the clarity they need to ensure the safeguarding and wellbeing of gender questioning children and young people.
“This is about pragmatic support for teachers, reassurance for parents, and above all, the safety and wellbeing of children and young people.”
It has also been backed by Dr Hilary Cass, who led the government review into gender care services for under-18s in 2024.
“The updated guidance is practical and reflects the recommendations of my review, giving schools much-needed clarity on their legal duties so they can support children with confidence,” Cass said.
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