supporting inclusion, challenging exclusion
legislation and guidance for inclusive education
Inclusive education and the law in the UK
The law supporting inclusive education in the UK
There are a number of laws addressing discrimination in education and supporting inclusive education in the UK. The UK also has obligations under international human rights law to provide inclusive education for all children.
Education without discrimination in UK law
It is unlawful for any education provider, including a private or independent provider, to discriminate between pupils on grounds of race, sex, disability or sexual orientation in admissions, access to benefits or services, exclusions, and in the employment of staff. There are some exceptions in relation to religion and belief, and schools are allowed to reject prospective students on grounds of their age. More problematically, some disabled pupils and pupils with a statement of “special educational needs” may be segregated in special schools, and schools may temporarily or permanently exclude pupils for disciplinary reasons.
State education providers also have additional legal responsibilities as set out in the “race equality duty”, the “disability equality duty” and the “gender equality duty”, but private and independent providers are only encouraged to comply with these duties. Schools’ responsibilities are summarised in an overview published by the Government, Legislation on Equality and Diversity: A guide for the action that maintained schools need to take to comply with equality and diversity legislation (PDF). This guide also includes links to key laws and a useful checklist of legal duties.
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 introduced a duty on schools to promote community cohesion, with effect from September 2007. According to government guidance (PDF), this means working towards a society where all communities share a common vision and sense of belonging. The duty primarily concerns differences between communities in relation to cultures, ethnicity, religions or non-religion and socio-economic status, but it also connects with other equality issues of disability, age, gender and sexual orientation.
Further information is provided below:
- Education without disability discrimination
- Education without sex discrimination
- Education without racial discrimination
The UK’s obligations under international human rights law
The UK has ratified the following international human rights treaties which place the Government under an obligation to provide education free from discrimination:
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified by the UK in 1991)
- UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (ratified in 1986)
- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ratified in 1976)
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ratified in 1969)
- UNESCO Convention against discrimination in education
In March 2007, the UK signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but as at March 2008 had not ratified it.
Regional human rights instruments also confirm the right to education free from discrimination. These include the European Social Charter and Revised Social Charter and the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK ratified the European Social Charter in 1962, but as at July 2008 had not ratified the Revised Charter. The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into UK law in the Human Rights Act 1998.
For more information, please see our inclusive education and international human rights instruments and the European human rights pages.
Note: some of the documents on this page are in PDF format. In order to view a PDF you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader
Page last updated: Sunday 10 August 2008