This page lists actions that you can take to support trans+ rights in the UK along with our guidance for what to do.

Keeping Children Safe in Education Guidance

The government has proposed changes to a document called Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). This document is a piece of statutory guidance for schools and colleges. This means that if it comes into effect, schools will be required to follow this guidance. There is a consultation open until 22nd April 11:59pm, to respond to these changes.

You can find the consultation here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/independent-education-and-school-safeguarding-division/keeping-children-safe-in-education-2026-revisions/

Of concern within this guidance is the restrictions imposed on supporting trans+ students. It fails to even mention the word transgender, and instead refers to children who are “questioning their gender” and states that most children grow out of this behaviour, ignoring that the overwhelming majority of trans+ youth continue to identify as trans+ adults (about 97%). Within this guidance, gender expression and gender identity are conflated, with examples of girls playing with trucks offered, as though gender non-conformity is equivalent to transgender identity, obscuring the facts and reinforcing rigid gender roles.

Not only does this erasure of trans+ identity from the guidance harm trans+ students, but the idea that a child questioning gender roles, and engaging in gender non-conformity should represent a safeguarding concern that should force a disclosure to parents/carers will make it difficult to address sexism within schools, reinforcing the idea that men and women are meant to behave in certain ways.

The guidance details how schools should handle a social transition, where a child may wish to change their name, pronouns, or wardrobe, and claims that a social transition should be seen as an active intervention that carries significant risks of harm. One of these risks that is mentioned is that a majority of children who socially transition will medically transition as adults – thus, making it quite clear that for them, any outcome where a child remains as transgender throughout life is an outcome that is to be avoided. The guidance instead stresses that social transition should be rarely supported, and emphasizes that the child’s wishes should only be considered after the desires of carers/parents, and should prioritize the comfort of fellow students and staff. In essence, this guidance permits conversion practices to be legally allowed, and in certain cases, seemingly mandated.

Within this, schools are also required to segregate on the basis of “biological sex.” The definition of this is missing from the guidance, rendering intersex students invisible and at risk of harm. Moreover, it excludes trans+ students from educational activities and risks outing them, with the guidance making reference to children who are in stealth as something that should be seen as a concern. It is not based on best practice, and promotes a blanket exclusion from sports and single-sex facilities, which is not likely to adhere to the Equality Act.

Likewise, the guidance does not mention homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic (HBT) bullying at all, and there is no reference made to transphobia, yet they do make reference to misandry. Instead, it provides a footnote to suggest that it is very hard to understand who gender reassignment applies for, which is inaccurate, and even if it was, it would not as though that excuse the omission of the need to address transphobia.

This is deeply concerning. We ask you to respond to the consultation and raise your concerns. This is something that can be done in only 5-10 minutes if you wish to focus only on these immediate concerns. Guidance for how to do this is below.