We welcome the fact that the government has identified that there would be a discrepancy between the minimum standards for FE residential settings and the new guidance on gender-questioning children and young people, were this guidance to be implemented as it stands. It’s important that the standards and guidance do not give contradictory advice to FE settings. 

As we made clear in our response to the gender-questioning consultation, as a trade union and professional association representing school and college leaders ASCL has no ideological position on this issue. We do not have any deep understanding of the clinical, psychological or sociological reasons why increasing numbers of children and young people are questioning their gender or identifying as trans. We are not experts in the impacts of different approaches to gender-questioning children and young people on their current or future health and wellbeing. We do not have extensive in-house legal expertise on this issue (our legal team are principally employment lawyers). We therefore leave views on those issues to other respondents with more relevant expertise. 

Where we have some expertise is in assessing the extent to which the proposal in this consultation will be workable ‘on the ground’, and the extent to which this will help leaders to take decisions which support and protect their students, their staff and themselves. We have therefore answered the question from this perspective. 

Full response to consultation