Sex Discrimination in Education

The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (‘SDA’) makes it unlawful for educational establishments to directly or indirectly discriminate on grounds of sex, (or victimise), in any of the following areas:

Admissions policies.
Access to classes, courses or other benefits, facilities or services provided by the school or college.
Exclusions or any other unfavourable treatment.

Local authorities are also under a general duty to ensure that educational facilities and ancillary benefits or services are provided without sex discrimination.

The following bodies can be held responsible for discrimination under the SDA:

All schools, colleges and other educational establishments maintained by Local Education Authorities. Depending on the circumstances of the case, the Local Education Authority itself and/or the governors of the institution can be held responsible. Governors can be held responsible individually or collectively.
Independent or private schools. The proprietors would be responsible.
Universities and other higher education institutes. The governing body would be responsible.
Other establishments designated by the Secretary of State for Education. These include other establishments in receipt of grants (such as grant-maintained schools) from central government or the local authority. The governing body in each case is responsible for any discrimination.

The SDA allows educational trusts to change their terms, with consent from the Secretary of State for Education, in order to apply their benefits to both sexes.

Exceptions

There are a limited number of exceptions to the general requirement of non-discrimination in education. These are as follows:

Single-sex schools and colleges. A single-sex institution planning to turn co-educational can apply for permission to discriminate by admitting more members of one sex for a limited period.
Co-educational schools which provide boarding accommodation for one sex only may continue to do so. If accommodation is provided for both sexes, it must be equal though it may be separate.
Education provided by charities set up to benefit one sex only.
In sport, single-sex competitive sport is allowed ‘where the physical strength, stamina or physique of the average woman puts her at a disadvantage to the average man’. In practice, this has often been used to exclude girls from certain sports at school.

The SDA allows single-sex schools, but also places a general duty on local education authorities to provide education without sex discrimination. This might mean, for example, that although a single-sex girls' school may not offer a design and technology course through its own curriculum, the Local Education Authority has to ensure that if boys in the same area have the opportunity to study this subject, arrangements are made to enable girls to take it, perhaps by attending a nearby mixed school for those lessons.

There is no express provision prohibiting harassment in the provision of primary or secondary education, however it would be possible to argue that such treatment constitutes direct discrimination. An express provision prohibiting harassment is due to come into force by 21 December 2007. There is already an express provision prohibiting harassment by colleges and universities of students or potential students.

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