KCSIE 2026: Supporting Trans+ and Gender-Questioning Pupils in Schools

From September 2026, schools and colleges in England will be working under the updated Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 statutory guidance.

GIRES has developed new Inclusive Schools Policy Guidance for England to help teachers, school leaders, Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs), governors and other education professionals understand what KCSIE 2026 means for supporting trans+, non-binary and gender-questioning pupils in schools and colleges.

The guidance provides a practical framework for translating KCSIE 2026 into consistent and inclusive school policies and procedures. It brings together the requirements of KCSIE with the wider legal and safeguarding framework, including the Equality Act 2010, safeguarding legislation, human rights, data protection and relevant education law.

At its heart is a straightforward principle: every pupil is an individual. Decisions should be child-centred and based on the pupil’s circumstances, needs and best interests, with safeguarding, equality, dignity and privacy considered together.

Download the GIRES KCSIE 2026: Inclusive Schools Policy Guidance for England here.

How schools and colleges can use the guidance

The GIRES guidance is designed as a practical framework that schools and colleges can adapt to their own circumstances and statutory responsibilities.

Schools do not necessarily need a separate trans+ policy. The guidance can instead be used to review and develop existing school policies and procedures, including Safeguarding, Equality, Anti-Bullying, Behaviour, Attendance, RSHE, Staff Conduct and other relevant pupil policies.

Schools with an existing trans+, non-binary or gender-questioning policy can use the guidance to review and update it. Where existing policies do not adequately cover all the issues involved, the framework can also be used to develop a specific inclusive policy or procedure.

The guidance should be considered as a whole rather than selectively, recognising that safeguarding, equality, privacy, information sharing and day-to-day school arrangements are closely connected.

What does the KCSIE 2026 guidance cover?

The full guidance provides practical information for schools and colleges on:

• Safeguarding and pastoral support, including the important principle that being trans+ or questioning your gender is not, in itself, a safeguarding concern.
• Equality and inclusion, including gender reassignment protections under the Equality Act 2010 and the wider legal framework.
• Information sharing, privacy and school records, including names, confidentiality, data protection and working with parents and carers.
• Toilets and changing facilities, including privacy, accessibility, inclusive design and practical arrangements for trans+ and gender-questioning pupils.
• PE and school sport, with an emphasis on maximising participation while considering safety, wellbeing, fairness and legal responsibilities.
• Educational visits and residential trips, including sleeping, washing and changing arrangements.
• Social transition in schools, including how schools should respond to requests for support on an individual basis rather than through blanket approaches.
• Changing identities and ongoing support, recognising that a young person’s understanding or expression of their gender may evolve over time.
• Medical support, school uniform, searching and other aspects of school life where trans+ pupils may require appropriate and individualised consideration.

A practical framework for inclusive schools

KCSIE 2026 contains specific provisions relating to gender reassignment, gender-questioning pupils, social transition, transphobic bullying, school sport, toilets and changing facilities. These sit within a wider safeguarding framework that places the best interests and welfare of the child at the heart of decision-making.

GIRES’ guidance helps schools consider these responsibilities together and develop approaches that are lawful, practical and supportive of trans+, non-binary and gender-questioning pupils.

Download the full GIRES Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026: Inclusive Schools Policy Guidance for England.

Schools and colleges may copy, share and adapt the guidance for their own use, subject to the provisions set out in the document.