Equality and diversity

​​​The Equality Act 2010 provides a single source of discrimination law covering all the types of discrimination that are unlawful.

The Act covers all aspects of school life to do with how a school treats pupils and prospective pupils, parents and carers, employees and members of the community.

Everything a school does must be fair, non-discriminatory and not put individuals or groups of people at a disadvantage.

All schools must give due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duties of the Act which states they must do the following:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

For more information about the Act visit the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) Equality Act 2010 web pages.

Protected characteristics

The are 9 ‘protected characteristics’ specified in the Act which are described as follows:

• age
• ​disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion and belief
• sex
• sexual orientation

This means it’s unlawful for a school to discriminate against a pupil or prospective pupil by treating them less favourably because of their sex, race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity.

Equality law and education

For guidance to explain the responsibilities the Equality Act 2010 places on schools, school leaders and governors use DfE’s Equality Act 2010: advice for schools guidance.

For more information about what equality law means for education providers use the EHRC Technical guidance for schools in England.

Reasonable adjustments

Where something a school does might put a disabled child at a substantial disadvantage, compared with other children who are not disabled, schools must take reasonable steps to avoid that disadvantage.

This is usually referred to as the ‘reasonable adjustments duty’.

The duty is anticipatory and it requires schools to think ahead and make adjustments so disabled pupils can participate in the whole of school life and avoid any disadvantage that might otherwise occur.

Schools can often avoid indirect discrimination and discrimination arising in consequence of a disability by thinking ahead and planning and making reasonable adjustments.

For more information visit the Council For Disabled Children Disabled Children and the Equality Act 2010: What teachers need to know and what schools need to do web pages.