‘Only girls allowed’, says single-sex school trust

A group representing 25 girls’ schools has introduced a new policy to ensure boys who identify as female are not admitted.

In a document clarifying its position on gender identity, Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) said it was committed to single-sex education for girls on the basis of biological sex only.

GDST includes Newcastle High School for Girls, Howell’s School in Cardiff, Brighton Girls and Kensington Prep School.

‘Legal sex’

The policy states: “Admissions to GDST schools are based on the prospective student’s legal sex as recorded on their birth certificate.”

It added that new applicants “who are legally male but who identify as trans or non-binary” would not be accepted.

Applicants who were legally female but identified as “trans or non-binary” would be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.

Admissions are based on the prospective student’s legal sex as recorded on their birth certificate.

However, the Trust flagged that such individuals may struggle “attending a school which deliberately tailors its ethos and educational approach to cater specifically for girls”.

Equality Act

In a statement, the Chief Executive of the GDST Cheryl Giovannoni explained: “GDST schools are able to operate a single-sex admissions policy, without breaching the Equality Act 2010 on the basis of an exemption relating to biological sex.

“Under current laws and guidance, the GDST believes that an admissions policy based on gender identity rather than the legal sex recorded on a student’s birth certificate could jeopardise the status of GDST schools as single-sex schools under the act.”

Writing for the UnHerd website, teacher and transgender campaigner Debbie Hayton said the trans lobby “will be upset by the GDST policy, but schools must not be misled by them”.

Hayton who was born male, but ‘transitioned’ from male to female as an adult, hailed the Trust’s stand as “one more sign that things might be changing and both the real law and common sense might be returning”.