Equality for children and young people

Too many children and young people in Britain face discrimination and barriers to opportunity, from prejudice or a lack of proper support in education settings to unequal access to work. The pandemic has made many of these issues worse. 

children sitting on bench front of trees

Our work

Graphic with school child and text which reads "Preventing hair discrimination in schools"

Preventing hair discrimination in schools

In 2022, we published new resources – endorsed by World Afro Day and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race Equality in Education – to help school leaders ensure hair or hairstyle policies are not unlawfully discriminatory.  

man in long sleeve shirt standing beside girl in pink tank top washing hands

More must be done to protect children’s rights

We published our latest report for the United Nations (UN) outlining the state of children’s rights in Britain. The report is part of the UN’s system for monitoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty that the UK signed in 1991. We raised concerns with education for children in Britain.

group of fresh graduates students throwing their academic hat in the air

Joint call for Scotland’s colleges and universities to address inequalities

In 2023, we worked with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to identify the most persistent inequalities in Scotland’s colleges and universities and pave the way for their removal.

Business plan
2023/24

This business plan describes what we will do under the equality for children and young people priority from April 2023 to March 2024.

Work with regulators and governments to tackle any disproportionate impact of external events on educational outcomes for children and young people from all backgrounds

Our long-term goal:

Reducing the disproportionate impact of wider events on educational outcomes for children and young people.

How we will do it:

We will influence standard setting by:

  • publishing and promoting guidance on meeting the costs for the provision of reasonable adjustments for disabled private exam candidates
  • working with the Welsh government to advise on its work to address educational inequalities, including by ensuring that equality and human rights are embedded into the implementation of the new curriculum in Wales

We will ensure compliance with standards by:

  • using the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) to encourage equality of opportunity in the development and delivery of educational policies and programmes
  • promoting PSED guidance for schools to increase compliance with the duty duty
four children standing on dirt during daytime

Take legal action to address breaches of children’s rights in institutional settings

Our long-term goal:

Protecting and upholding the rights of children and young people in institutional settings with a reduction in their rights being breached.

How we will do it:

We will influence standard setting by:

  • influencing the UK and Welsh governments and others on implementing the recommendations made by the UN Committee on the rights of the child
  • promoting and protecting children’s rights in institutional settings
  • advising UK, Scottish and Welsh governments on policies in education and institutional settings covering admissions, exclusions, behaviour and restraint
  • engaging with the Department for Education to promote the recommendations of our 2021 Restraint Inquiry in England

We will ensure compliance with standards by:

  • engaging with local authorities in Scotland to ensure PSED compliance with updated restraint guidance

We will enforce the law by:

  • identifying opportunities to take legal action to promote and protect children’s rights in institutional settings
red apple fruit on four pyle books

Tackle discrimination in exclusions, behaviour policies and failures to make reasonable adjustments to improve educational outcomes for people with protected characteristics

Our long-term goal:

Improving educational outcomes for at risk groups with an increase in educational participation in those groups.

How we will do it:

We will influence standard setting by:

  • advising the UK government about growing numbers of persistent absences in schools and influencing them to ensure PSED compliant policies

We will ensure compliance with standards by:

  • completing training for the Enquire adviser helpline in Scotland. This will increase knowledge of equality and human rights

We will enforce the law by:

  • identifying opportunities to take legal action to promote children’s rights and tackle discrimination in education settings
three children sitting on grass

Tackle barriers to equal training and work opportunities for young people

Our long-term goal:

Increasing the proportion of young people with certain protected characteristics who are in employment. Also training increases and occupational segregation is reduced.

How we will do it:

We will influence standard setting by:

  • advising governments and engaging with stakeholders to improve access to apprenticeships and employability support, and reduce occupational segregation, for young people in under-represented groups
  • providing advice about the establishment of the Commission on Tertiary Education and Research in Wales

We will enforce the law by:

  • identifying opportunities to take legal action to tackle barriers to equal training and work opportunities for young people
boy in orange and black jacket wearing red helmet holding black dslr camera