Schools have no “general duty" to allow children to change their gender identity, long-awaited government guidance says.
The Department for Education (DfE) has published its delayed draft guidance for schools and colleges on pupils who question their gender.
The non-statutory guidance says parents "should not be excluded" from decisions taken by a school or college relating to requests for a child to "socially transition" - when pupils change their names, pronouns and clothing.
The new guidance was published on Tuesday after being promised since 2018 and delayed from the summer.
The guidance told schools they are under no "general duty" to allow children to socially transition – where they adopt the pronouns and dress of the opposite gender.
Teachers will not be compelled to address children who want to change their gender identity by their chosen pronoun if they have a "good faith" objection.
Schools were also told they have no obligation to provide gender-neutral facilities such as toilets and changing rooms, while single-sex schools will be told that they do not need to accommodate transgender pupils.
A Whitehall source told the Telegraph: “This Government firmly believes parents should be involved in decisions about their children and much more caution should be taken, so this guidance means there should effectively now be a presumption against social transitioning in schools.”
The source said the guidance would provide “much-needed certainty and protection to teachers and pupils so they will no longer feel forced to use different pronouns for gender-questioning children, and won’t face a sanction for not doing so.”
They added: “It is a complex and sensitive issue, but we’ve taken the time to strike the right balance.”
The government source said: “It’s a cautious approach. It’s supportive of no action or slow action.”
Downing Street said on Monday that ministers had been working "carefully" on the guidance as it is a "complex area".
It has been drawn up by education secretary Gillian Keegan, and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch. It will apply to all state and independent schools in England and is not legally binding.
Some campaigners welcomed the guidance, but others said it does not go far enough, because it does not ban social transitioning completely.
In an early indication of unease on the Tory right about the measures, former prime minister Liz Truss said the guidance "does not go far enough".
She said: "During the many months we have been waiting for its publication, it has become increasingly clear that non-statutory guidance will provide insufficient protection and clarity, and that a change in the law of the land is required."
Ms Truss added: "I fear that activists and others will be able to exploit loopholes in the guidance and the existing legal framework to pursue their agenda, leaving children at risk of making irreversible changes and with single-sex spaces not sufficiently protected."
Ms Truss has put forward her own legislation to mean that would mean social transitioning is not recognised by schools or the state in children and puberty blockers and hormone treatment for gender dysphoria would be banned for under-18s.
Mata Forstater, executive director of campaign group Sex Matters, told The Telegraph: “This guidance, though imperfect, sets the global standard for uprooting trans ideology from schools.
“No other country that has allowed the trans lobby to dictate lessons and school policies has moved so decisively to reverse course. Other countries can learn from the UK experience – it’s far better to keep gender ideologues away from education entirely, but if the moment for that has already passed it is not impossible to push back.”
But she added that the guidance “still leaves too much to the discretion of individual schools and provides no framework for the complex, ill-defined decisions it envisages school leaders making for each individual child who declares a trans identity.”
Tanya Carter, of Safe Schools Alliance, a volunteer-led organisation that campaigns for improved safeguarding in schools, said legal action would be considered if the guidance “fails to protect children from being socially transitioned” and “fails to put safeguarding first”.
Stephanie Davies-Arai, the founder of Transgender Trend, said failing to ban social transitioning meant the Government was going down an activist “gender affirmative” approach.
The Government also faced a backlash from LGBT+ campaigners. A spokesman for Stonewall said: “There is considerable evidence that social transition improves the mental health of trans children and young people, and from what we are hearing about this guidance their needs have not been properly considered.”
Education unions have previously described delays to the publication of the transgender guidance as frustrating because schools have been left in a difficult position.
A spokeswoman for the National Education Union (NEU) said: "The union will be engaging fully in the consultation process and will continue to meet with the Department for Education (DfE).
"We hope DfE, school leaders and unions can all work together constructively so that all LGBT+ young people have a good experience at school.
"Schools need to be involved properly in developing guidance that is clear and helpful and can work successfully alongside their safeguarding duties. Existing good practice should be shared to help inform the government's guidance.
"The reality is that too many LGBT+ young people still report finding schools a negative experience and in 2023, that's not OK."
