Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department monitors particular schools for gender segregation.

As part of Ofsted school inspections, inspectors consider how well leaders and governors promote all forms of equality and how well the school prepares pupils positively for life in modern Britain.

In April 2016, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills wrote to my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, making clear that where inspectors identify any form of segregation in a mixed school, without a good educational reason, this would likely lead to an inadequate judgement for the school’s leadership and management. This is consistent with the Department’s longstanding position that mixed schools should only separate children by gender in limited circumstances where this can be justified and where they can demonstrate that no pupil is disadvantaged by virtue of their gender.

The recent case of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills –v- The Interim Executive Board of Al-Hijrah School has clarified the law in a way which supports that position.

It will be for any other schools affected by the judgment to decide what action they might need to take in the light of the judgment. The Department will work with any affected schools to help them comply with the law.