Trans pupils: summary of legal rights

Understand your school's legal responsibilities around supporting pupils who identify as trans, so you can make sure it's compliant.

Last reviewed on 5 September 2022
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 5639
Contents
  1. Note on terminology
  2. Your school should seek legal advice on any challenging decisions it makes 
  3. Summary of your school's legal responsibilities 
  4. What this means in practice 
  5. Recording names and gender on school systems

This is a complex and evolving topic, and our understanding is moving on all the time. 

While we can't give a steer on individual cases, here we set out the essential rules your school leaders should follow and some considerations to have in mind. It's likely they'll also need to seek legal advice on more complex situations (see more below). 

Note on terminology 'Trans' is an umbrella term describing people whose gender is not the same as, or does not sit comfortably with, the sex they were assigned at birth. ‘Non-binary’ is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity doesn’t sit comfortably with ‘man’ or ‘woman’. Non-binary identities are varied and can include people who identify with some aspects of binary identities, while others reject them entirely. These definitions those