Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect on gender equality of school uniforms.

The department has published advisory guidance on school uniform policy. The guidance makes clear that it is for the governing body of a school to decide whether there should be a school uniform policy and if so what that should be. It also makes clear that, when deciding on uniform policy, a school will have to consider its obligations not to discriminate unlawfully, including on the basis of gender.

The guidance can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.