Introduction to Public Sector Equality Duty for schools

This page introduces what schools need to do to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

The PSED is a duty on public authorities (including schools) to consciously consider how their policies or decisions affect people who share protected characteristics. This means aspects of a person’s identity that are protected under the Equality Act 2010. For school pupils, these are:

• disability
• gender reassignment
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex 
• sexual orientation.

Parents and pupils also may make a legal challenge against a school (through judicial review proceedings) if they believe it has not complied.

The PSED has two parts: the general equality duty and the specific duties.

The general equality duty says that schools must consciously consider (have due regard for) their need to:

1. eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
2. advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
3. foster good relations across all protected characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Schools must integrate the general equality duty within all their operations. They should do this rigorously and meaningfully. It should not be treated as just paperwork or a tick-box exercise.

When making a decision, taking an action or developing a policy, a school must consciously consider what the implications would be for the equality of pupils with protected characteristics. This includes current pupils and those who apply to attend the school.

A school should not wait until after they have taken an action, made a decision or implemented a policy. It should consider equality implications before and during the process. This is often called the 'anticipatory nature of the duty'.

 Before adopting a policy, taking an action or making a decision, a school must:

• assess whether there may be any resulting risks to, or adverse effects for, pupils with protected characteristics
• consider how such risks or effects may be eliminated.

The duty to consciously consider (have due regard to) equality considerations is a continuing one. This means schools should regularly review all their policies and practices (especially those that are most relevant to equality) to make sure they are meeting this requirement.

It is good practice for schools to:

• record how they have considered the PSED
• identify the policies that are most relevant to equality and keep them under regular review.

Schools cannot delegate responsibility for carrying out the duty to anyone else.

Schools must do the following:

• publish equality information by 30 March every year (schools with fewer than 150 employees do not have to publish information on their employees, but they may wish to do so anyway to improve their equality information)
• prepare and publish one or more specific and measurable equality objective (this came into effect on 30 March 2018 and needs to be completed at least once every four years)
• publish information, annually, on the gender pay gap of employees, where the school employs 250 or more staff.