The Equality Act 2010
Every school is required to follow the Equality Act 2010 and protect staff and pupils from discrimination. Learn about the 9 protected characteristics, reasonable adjustments for pupils, and how to foster an inclusive school community.
Who it's for
All school staff
Note 1: You may be aware of the April 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex. This means that any person with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment to female (i.e. a transgender woman) is not considered ‘a woman’ under equality legislation. We don't know the practical implications of this for schools yet, and are awaiting the publication of guidance and a code of practice by the EHRC.
The Equality Act 2010 has not changed and still stands, so this course is current and compliant.
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Note 2: We’ve made some important accessibility improvements to our Equality Act course. These include better screen reader compatibility, clearer navigation, improved colour contrast, and optional narration on selected slides.
Whether you’re a learner or helping others access our courses, we want everyone to feel the content is inclusive and easy to use — especially for those using screen readers or assistive tools.
Feel free to pass this on to any staff who may benefit from the update, and let us know if you have any feedback using the feedback form at the end of the course.
The course covers:
- What the the Equality Act 2010 is, and the 9 protected characteristics
- The different types of discrimination
- Reasonable adjustments for pupils
- What the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is and what you need to do to follow it
- Your role in helping your school to be inclusive for all pupils
There are 2 pathways to choose from, for:
- All staff
- Senior leaders, with more detail about how to implement the act in your setting
At the end of the course, you'll take a short assessment to test your knowledge and put your learning into practice.
More resources about equality and inclusion
Guidance, templates and resources for your school
Equality Act 2010: reasonable adjustments
Understand how to provide reasonable adjustments for pupils, staff and parents/carers with disabilities - including for school trips and after-school clubs.
Equality impact assessment: template and guidance
Download and adapt our template equality impact assessment (EIA) to help you account for equality when writing or reviewing your policies.
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in schools
Schools are required to comply with the PSED. Understand what that means and find out the information your school could publish to demonstrate compliance. You can also see examples from primary, secondary and special schools.