Nearly six months after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that defined “woman” as biological sex under equality law, the Scottish Government has finally released guidance instructing schools to adopt single-sex toilets and changing rooms, ending years of confusion over transgender policies in education.
The updated ‘Supporting Transgender Pupils In Schools’ guidance, published on Monday, marks a significant retreat from the SNP’s previous gender self-identification framework and instructs all Scottish schools to provide separate facilities for boys and girls based on biological sex recorded at birth.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth confirmed that the Scottish Government had accepted April’s far-reaching Supreme Court decision and “has been taking forward the detailed work that is necessary as a consequence of the ruling,” though critics say the response has been unnecessarily slow.
Supreme Court’s Defining Moment
The guidance follows the UK Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on 16 April 2025 in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, which definitively established that the terms “man,” “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex.
The landmark judgment, delivered by Lord Hodge, resolved years of legal uncertainty by confirming that a person’s legal sex for equality law purposes remains their biological sex at birth, even if they hold a Gender Recognition Certificate. The ruling has profound implications for single-sex spaces across the public sector.
For Women Scotland, the gender-critical advocacy group that brought the case, had challenged Scottish Government guidance stating that trans women with Gender Recognition Certificates should be considered women under equality law. After winning their appeal, the group has grown increasingly frustrated at what they see as the government’s sluggish response.
New School Guidelines
The refreshed guidance confirms that “separate toilet facilities for boys and girls must be provided in schools” and clarifies that “for the purposes of this guidance the term ‘biological sex’ is used to mean sex recorded at birth,” though it acknowledges that “young people and their families may prefer to use other terms.”
However, the document also states that schools should consider providing additional facilities for transgender pupils, which “may include the use of gender neutral provision.” This has led to accusations from Conservative MSPs that the guidance remains contradictory and confusing.
The guidelines warn against the risk of “outing” transgender pupils and suggest practical arrangements such as “enabling young people to use facilities outwith usual breaktimes” to reduce visibility when accessing toilet or changing facilities.
Crucially, the guidance provides no specific advice on whether parents should be informed if their child is identifying as a different gender at school, stating only that “parents and carers play an important part in a young person’s life” and should be involved “where possible.”
Councils Already Affected
The policy shift comes as it emerged that up to seven Scottish councils have one or more schools with no single-sex spaces after previously embracing Nicola Sturgeon’s gender self-ID framework. Three of these schools are located in Aberdeenshire alone.
A Court of Session ruling in April, following a case brought by parents against Scottish Borders Council, had already established that state schools must provide single-sex toilets under existing 1967 regulations. The judge, Lady Ross KC, issued a declarator making clear that gender-neutral-only facilities breach legal requirements.
Rosie Walker of law firm Gilson Gray, representing the parents, warned: “The court order makes clear that the 1967 regulations apply to all state schools in Scotland. There is no provision for gender-neutral toilets in the regulations. Any school not complying will be in breach of the regulations and could face a legal challenge from parents.”
‘Women Won’t Wait’ Protest
On 4 September, a coalition of women’s rights campaigners protested outside Holyrood, chanting “women won’t wait” and calling on the Scottish Government to speed up the distribution of updated guidance for schools, council buildings and the Scottish prison service.
Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland, accused the government of trying to be “very hands-off about all the things they are responsible for” and “washing their hands of any responsibility.”
Speaking to GB News earlier this month, Smith said: “We’re fed up of waiting for them just to pull these things and say ‘these are plainly unlawful and we cannot carry on sending these out to schools, councils and the prison service telling them to adhere to policies which fly in the face of the Supreme Court ruling.’
Political Fallout
Scottish Conservative MSP Pam Gosal criticised the guidance, stating: “There was nothing confusing about the Supreme Court’s ruling – women and girls are entitled to single-sex spaces. Yet the SNP Education Secretary still can’t tell us whether biological males will be allowed to use girls’ toilets and changing rooms in our schools.
The Conservatives’ children’s spokesperson Roz McCall added: “The Supreme Court ruling was clear, the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, and they are entitled to single-sex spaces. But instead of enforcing the law, the SNP have confused matters further by producing this contradictory and potentially harmful guidance.”
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth defended the guidance, saying: “The rights of all children and young people must be respected in our schools. We have brought forward updates to guidance to provide clarity and confidence to teachers and staff as they work to support the mental, physical and emotional health of transgender young people.
Prison Service Under Pressure
For Women Scotland says it is now “imperative” the SNP moves quickly to refresh outdated policies in the Scottish prison service, particularly following the controversial case of trans double-rapist Isla Bryson (previously Adam Graham), who was initially housed in the female HMP Cornton Vale before being moved following national outcry.
The imprisonment of Bryson in a women’s prison sparked significant backlash and inflamed tensions around gender identity and self-ID policies. The controversy occurred just two weeks before Nicola Sturgeon resigned as First Minister, though she maintains the issues were unrelated to her decision to step down.
Dismantling Sturgeon’s Legacy
The updated guidance represents the final dismantling of Nicola Sturgeon’s gender self-ID framework in the public sector. The former First Minister’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which would have allowed people to self-identify their legal gender without medical diagnosis, was blocked by the UK Government using a Section 35 order – the first time such powers had been used.
Following the Supreme Court judgment, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed the Scottish Government “has no plans” to resurrect the blocked legislation, effectively ending years of bitter political and legal battles over the issue.
Maya Forstater, Executive Director of Sex Matters, warned that suggestions schools could still create gender-neutral toilets “goes against school building regulations requiring half of all toilet facilities to be for boys” and the other half for girls.
As schools across Scotland begin implementing the new guidance, the debate over balancing the rights of all pupils whilst maintaining single-sex spaces continues. The Scottish Government says work is “ongoing” to update guidance across the entire public sector in the wake of April’s Supreme Court decision, but critics argue the pace of change remains far too slow.
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Photo by Steve Eason / Geograph (cropped), licensed under CC BY 2.0
