New transgender advice for teachers: What it means for England and how Northern Ireland compares

The Department for Education (DfE) has published its long-awaited draft guidance for schools and colleges in England on dealing with students who say they are transgender.

It means that the guidance in England is now significantly less aligned with the demands of transgender activists than in Northern Ireland.

In Northern Ireland, the 2021 guidance from the Education Authority is that: “While some staff or parents may wish to know the pupil’s transgender status, this information is confidential.

“Staff should not disclose a pupil’s preferred name, pronoun, or other confidential information relating to their transgender status to another parent or third party without the pupil’s permission.”

The Northern Ireland advice further says: “Teachers and other staff working with young people should respect a young person’s wishes and use their preferred name/pronoun in everyday interactions.”

By contrast, the new non-statutory guidance for England says “parents should not be excluded” from name and pronoun changes and that schools and colleges should make them aware of any such request, except in a “very rare situation” where it may pose “significant risk of harm” to the child.

The new English guidance makes it clear there is “no general duty” to allow children to change their gender and they should take a “cautious approach” to such requests.

On the “rare occasions” where a change of pronouns is agreed, no teacher or pupil should be compelled to use them.

Teachers should still be able to refer to children collectively as “girls” or “boys” – a practice which transgender campaigners wanted stopped because it was not deemed inclusive.

Single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the other biological sex, regardless of how they “self-identify”.

In addition, biological males who say they are female should not be put on girls’ sports teams if it would “threaten the safety” of the girls (and the guidance adds “even for sports where safety is not risked by mixed-sex participation, schools and colleges should ensure that sports are fair”).

And when it comes to the especially thorny issue of changing rooms and toilets, the English advice says: “All children should use the toilets, showers and changing facilities designated for their biological sex unless it will cause distress for them to do so.

“In these instances, schools and colleges should seek to find alternative arrangements, while continuing to ensure spaces are single-sex.”

Again, this contrasts with Northern Ireland, where the advice is: “Where requested, staff should give a transgender pupil access to toilets which match their gender identity, unless there is a good reason not to do so”.

For some Tories, like ex-PM Liz Truss, today’s guidance “does not go far enough” in curbing transgender ideology in schools.

The guidance is out for a 12-week-long consultation, during which it is expected transgender activists will lobby heavily for changes.