Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of schools with codes on hairstyles that adversely affect school participation among students from ethnic-minority backgrounds; and what plans they have to ensure that all such codes are abolished.

Every school in England has existing legal obligations not to discriminate unlawfully on the grounds of a protected characteristic. It is for the governing board of a school to decide whether there should be a school uniform policy and if so, what it should be.

The department has not made an assessment of the number of schools with codes on hairstyles.

The department has published non statutory guidance to help schools to consider their equalities responsibilities in relation to uniform policies. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms.

In addition, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, with support from the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office, have produced guidance, which can be found here: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/preventing-hair-discrimination-schools.