Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of homophobic abuse of pupils in schools.

The Department’s most recent figures on the levels of homophobic bullying in schools come from our omnibus surveys of school staff and pupils, parents and carers. The school snapshot survey 2016/17 interviewed senior leaders and teachers, and showed that 14% of those interviewed had seen homophobic or biphobic bullying either sometimes or often in the previous 12 months. This publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-winter-2017.

This is similar to the results from the teacher voice omnibus 2015/16, which showed that 13% had seen homophobic or biphobic bullying sometimes. The publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-voice-omnibus-november-2016-survey-dfe-questions.

In the pupil and parent or carer omnibus survey 2016/17, 10% of pupils reported that they had been bullied in the past year because they are, or someone says they are, gay, lesbian or bisexual; 4% had been bullied daily, weekly, or monthly. The same survey conducted in 2017/18 shows a similar pattern with 13% of pupils reported that they had been bullied in the past year because they are, or someone says they are, gay, lesbian or bisexual; 6% had been bullied daily, weekly, or monthly. The publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-and-their-parents-or-carers-omnibus-wave-1-survey.

The Government Equalities Office is providing £4 million of funding, from September 2016 to March 2020, to help schools prevent and respond to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. In November 2018 the Department also published ‘Respectful School Communities’, available at https://educateagainsthate.com/school-leaders/?filter=guidance-and-training-school-leader, which is a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind. The Department is also making relationships education compulsory in all primary schools, relationships and sex education compulsory in all secondary schools and health education compulsory in all state-funded schools. This will address bullying of all kinds, with a focus on supporting pupils to develop positive respectful relationships, understanding the impact of harmful stereotypes and developing pupil wellbeing.