The Department for Education under Keir Starmer's labour Party has published long-delayed guidance on gender-questioning children, and it marks a shift from earlier Conservative proposals. The blanket ban on primary school pronoun changes is now gone. Under draft guidance prepared in 2023 by then-minister Kemi Badenoch, primary-aged pupils were not to be referred to by pronouns different from their biological sex. That language has now been removed, according to the Daily Mail.
Headmistress for the Michaela School Katherine Birbalsingh said This is the beginning of the end for our children. Culture in schools will transform. These Labour politicians have never built or run anything. They are ideologues who don’t understand that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Disgraceful and abuse of state power."
The new document states that primary schools should exercise “particular caution,” but says support for full social transition may be agreed “very rarely.” It also deletes earlier wording that secondary school pronoun changes should occur only on “very few occasions,” that no teacher or pupil should be compelled to use new pronouns, and that staff should not be stopped from saying “boys and girls.”
The guidance, which is subject to consultation and will later be backed by law, will be incorporated into the statutory Keeping Children Safe in Education framework. Schools must follow that guidance.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Parents send their children to school and college trusting that they'll be protected. Teachers work tirelessly to keep them safe. That's not negotiable, and it's not a political football.”
The document says girls’ toilets and changing facilities must remain female-only. Mixed toilets are not permitted for children over eight, and mixed-sex sleeping arrangements on school trips are barred. A child’s birth sex must be recorded in school and college records. Schools cannot initiate a transition; they may only respond to a request and must involve parents and consider any clinical advice. No staff member can decide alone.
Dr. Hilary Cass, author of the 2024 review of NHS gender identity services that led to a ban on puberty blockers for minors, has backed the approach. Critics say the revisions weaken safeguards. Laura Trott said: “Primary school children should not be navigating changes in pronouns at all. But shockingly Labour's guidance opens the door to children as young as four being referred to in a way that does not reflect their biological sex.”
The document also states it is “common” for girls to play with trucks and boys to wear feminine clothes, and that most children who question their gender do not continue into adulthood.
Headmistress for the Michaela School Katherine Birbalsingh said This is the beginning of the end for our children. Culture in schools will transform. These Labour politicians have never built or run anything. They are ideologues who don’t understand that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Disgraceful and abuse of state power."
The new document states that primary schools should exercise “particular caution,” but says support for full social transition may be agreed “very rarely.” It also deletes earlier wording that secondary school pronoun changes should occur only on “very few occasions,” that no teacher or pupil should be compelled to use new pronouns, and that staff should not be stopped from saying “boys and girls.”
The guidance, which is subject to consultation and will later be backed by law, will be incorporated into the statutory Keeping Children Safe in Education framework. Schools must follow that guidance.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Parents send their children to school and college trusting that they'll be protected. Teachers work tirelessly to keep them safe. That's not negotiable, and it's not a political football.”
The document says girls’ toilets and changing facilities must remain female-only. Mixed toilets are not permitted for children over eight, and mixed-sex sleeping arrangements on school trips are barred. A child’s birth sex must be recorded in school and college records. Schools cannot initiate a transition; they may only respond to a request and must involve parents and consider any clinical advice. No staff member can decide alone.
Dr. Hilary Cass, author of the 2024 review of NHS gender identity services that led to a ban on puberty blockers for minors, has backed the approach. Critics say the revisions weaken safeguards. Laura Trott said: “Primary school children should not be navigating changes in pronouns at all. But shockingly Labour's guidance opens the door to children as young as four being referred to in a way that does not reflect their biological sex.”
The document also states it is “common” for girls to play with trucks and boys to wear feminine clothes, and that most children who question their gender do not continue into adulthood.
