New school asking for "gender identity" etc. is this still allowed?

The purpose of the form (or one of them) is to capture data for national analysis. Since 2023 (I think) this is supposed to record the children’s sex and not their gender (as sex is a protected characteristic and gender isn’t). It’s not simply a matter of a poorly worded form, it’s the school failing to meet its obligations around data collection.

If it helps, this is a link to the draft safeguarding guidelines so you can see the specific paras I've quoted above.
Obviously they're not statutory yet but no matter how trans captured this government has been, I just can't see them reverse ferreting and suddenly deciding that men and boys can share changing rooms, dormitories etc with girls in schools.

https://consult.education.gov.uk/independent-education-and-school-safeguarding-division/keeping-children-safe-in-education-2026-revisions/supporting_documents/keeping_children_safe_in_education_2026_draft_for_consultationpdf-1

THIS!

Extracting these fantastical beliefs from our institutions will take ages. That's why it's so important that parents find our courage and speak up. If it helps, the draft Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), shortly to be ratified as the consultation has now closed, makes a number of demands of schools to record a child's sex accurately.
If a school fails to record sex then they won't be able to ensure single sex sports that ensure safety of girls (para 95) single sex accommodation in dormitories for boarding schools ( para 192), single sex toilets (para 106) and changing rooms "Schools and colleges must not allow a child, aged 11 years or older at the start of the school year, to undress in front of a child of the opposite biological sex, to comply with their safeguarding duties" (para 112).
This is why the Good Law Project and other trans lobby groups are howling in outrage at the notion of child safeguarding being restored in schools.

Safeguarding guidance is statutory - it's a must do, not negotiable. That puts parents in a powerful position if they wish to challenge a school undermining safeguarding and presumably will enable a referral to Ofsted for significant safegiuarding breaches once the final version of KCSIE is published.

Please question, if you think you can - it will help those of us in school admin who are trying to push back!

As a parent, I would say something simple like "on my child's passport / birth certificate, it refers to "sex". Is there a reason you're not asking that? Does your form refer to a different document?? Seems very confusing for parents with English as a second language". Make them explain.
I've done this before, when gender popped up on a form asking for passport details prior to an overseas school trip - it caused a right ruckus, and eventually the school realised that they needed to ask about sex because they were asking for information as it appears on the passport, and allocating hotel bedrooms. Duh.

It’s an interesting conundrum.

Most recent SHRE consultation - don’t teach GI as fact. Plastered all over the press last year.

School enrolment - What is your GI?

It is not that the form will only be seen by the parents ( and the school admin ) it is the fact that the wording on the form is the result of woolly thinking from the school leaders, which is indicative of a deeper level of ignorance about the dangers of encouraging young children to believe all sorts of woo.

If we don’t look out for, spot and challenge the visible evidence of the thinking behind organisations who don’t understand basic facts about biology, and don’t understand how language affects perception and thinking, then we are allowing them to blur understanding and knowledge. The form , and others like it, might be an innocent mistake from someone whose doesn’t understand how the difference between gender and sex is being used to confuse, or it might be a deliberate attempt to continue to smudge the difference so that young people become as confused as the young people on the reddit site whose ignorance about their bodies has been confounded by misleading assertions written down as facts.

Agree. Why does there need to be a another special word to describe him? The word boy is a large enough umbrella to cover every possible taste, preference and appearance from beefy rugby player to wafer thin catwalk model. It is people stamping their feet and demanding their own special words that has pushed us into this ridiculous situation where everyday language has been mangled and weaponised to accommodate whims and fancies.

I agree and it shows that there is more work to to get away from stereotypes.

This is very very different though from a poorly worded form that only the parents see.

@FrippEnos this is not to be pedantic, but there must be a better word than effeminate to describe boys.

I know what you mean but at the same time, describing a boy’s behaviour as ‘feminine’ surely does fall into the gender trap of ascribing to a stereotype. A girlie-girl, a roughty toughty boy vs a tomboy or an effeminate boy. But admittedly it’s hard to break away from both the thinking and language.

And interesting just how powerful language has been in this particular battle between the genderists and sex realists. The genderists have long known the importance of assigning names and labels as well as removing them. Initially under the pretence of inclusivity. Now a naked power grab. Fresh admiration for Orwell and his surgical precision in exposing how language forces people’s thinking to change. This is where I see the power of GenAI.

I don’t think there is any problem with the term gender non conforming. It has been around for a long time to refer to those who do not conform to societal norms about masculinity and femininity. The term is helpful in that it focuses on conformity and non conformity to expectations. It doesn’t take much to challenge gender based expectations.

The problem is when people conflate non conformity with ideas around gender identity and assume that because a girl enjoys masculine coded clothes/ pastimes etc. she has a male identity and, sometimes even worse, she is male.

With no disrespect to you.

Part of the problem is the drive to change the lanaguage, your child is not "gender non-conforming", he is a boy that likes what he likes. Whether he is effeminate, likes pink, cooking, enjoys dressing up or playing with dolls.

I say this as schools used to be really quite good at trying to remove gender stereotypes all that work trying to get girls in to STEM, boys in to cooking etc. and now thanks to gender ideology we have all been dragged back into stereotypes. .

I would contact them and ask for a form which shows they understand the difference between sex and gender.

Offer to come in and run a workshop for them if they need help.

My youngest is gender non-conforming. I've had 5 years of nonsense from the school staff who can't seem to take in the fact that he is not trans (including imposing they/them pronouns that he did not ask for). This is not a funding issue.

The problem is that any information going to the schools falls under "guidance" and as such they can just not do it, even if its considered best practice.

A lot of schools are still very much sold on gender identity and follow trans charities often encouraged by local councils.

Remember as well that schools have spent a lot of money on getting inclusive certified by these groups as well.

Your school allows parents to lie about the sex of their children?

As our school only asks "Gender" and people lie about it, I would much prefer this approach. Instead of fighting to remove the questions, can you suggest a "NA" option be added to the drop down options? Or that they ask "Does you child have a gender identity?" instead, with the other things dropping down only if you answer yes - give proactive solutions instead of complaining.

You can just say that the current questions are confusing and might over represent how many kids have gender identities (if you want to "play nice" you can say that this over count could mean that any resources are spread too thin and away from kids who might need them).

Well yes, but my run in with head of sixth form was safeguarding related (in relation to gender). It was escalated to DSL and the Head who I dealt with thereafter.

I knew I was being an arse (about the data collection) but this was a man who had no idea about safeguarding in relation to gender ideology and was also ignoring DfE guidelines on data collection. I’m sure it was an oversight and not deliberate but it needed fixing.

After many years of teaching, I know that none of this excuses using regressive, inaccurate language in relation to children. None of it excuses adults failing to use their critical thinking. None of it excuses a school buying into any old nonsense that political lobby groups put out.

Maintaining accurate data, using clear language, knowing that sex isn't ever "assigned" are critical. Accurate data that reflects a child's sex is also critical - as the new KCSIE guidelines state (once they're finally issued).

Schools managed to find the time and money to change all the forms to include this bollocks in the first place. They can bloody well find the time and resources to correct them. I would say that you can’t complete the form as it doesn’t give an option to refuse to answer things that are beliefs (presumably if they ask for religion there is an option for none) and see what they come back with.

I think you will surprised how many other parents also disagree. I have realised after my son leaving the school that I wasn’t the only parent objecting to the gender crap when I was a parent there although they like to make you feel like you are.

Schools are insanely underfunded and understaffed. That will be why. Mostly, they’re trying their best in incredibly challenging circumstances. This might be the most important thing on your list of priorities but they are more on behaviour control, quality of teaching, safeguarding (bullying etc), pastoral care, budget control, reporting to Ofsted etc.

Also, I don't think you need to defend your stance, OP. You can ask them their position on teaching about gender ID in a neutral way.

Also, check out their safeguarding policy online.

I was “that parent” when my DD started sixth form in the same school she’d attended for high school.

I believe schools must collect data on sex and can also collect “gender identity”
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/642bf367fbe620000f17dbc7/CBDS_RFC_1233_-_Sex_and_Gender_Identity.pdf

I sent the link above to the head of sixth form who I already had had a run in with on gender and said that I thought his form was wrong and I had filled in the sex of my daughter in the “gender” section as I assumed it couldn’t mean gender as only two options were given. He did reply with some BS about this form falling down the cracks when he’d updated other forms and that I was right that it should have asked for sex not gender

This is not a small thing. Many schools who have been pushing gender identity onto children have terrible safeguarding. Read Page 23 | Mixed sex changing rooms in a Brighton secondary school - part 3 - we're really cooking now | Mumsnet for a real life example of a school forcing girls to get undressed in front of male pupils.

I think you need to call up to clarify why the form has this - I'd be asking if they compel wrong-sex pronouns for a start (which is a safeguarding failure as well as compelled speech)- and also ask around among parents whose children are already there. If it's full of gender ideology, look for a school that doesn't have gender ideology driving its safeguarding failures. If your child hasn't started yet you have a chance to make a change now. Once they start, and start making friends, it's much harder to move. Plus by changing now wherever they go they'll be with a load of other year 7s who've also just changed school. That makes a big difference.

Completely disagree.

Now is absolutely the time to raise it. Why not?

Either they will be reasonable, in which case nothing is lost.

Or they will tell you that they are 'gender inclusive' or other gender woo and you'll know to run for the hills.