Barry Sheerman – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2014-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he gives to schools on steps they should take to inform students of their right to wear or not to wear religious clothing.

Mr David Laws

It is for the governing body of each school to set their own policies on school uniform and other matters of appearance. The Department for Education’s guidance to schools on school uniform recommends that, once this policy is decided, the governing body should describe its uniform or appearance policy clearly and ensure that parents are informed.

The uniform guidance reminds schools of their need to have full regard to their obligations under equalities law when setting and enforcing their school uniform policy. It also recommends that the governing body considers carefully any reasonable requests to vary their uniform policy to accommodate individual pupils’ beliefs.

The school uniform guidance is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform.

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