Stonewall Report: The experiences of LGBTQ+ pupils in Britain’s schools

Stonewall is an organisation that campaigns to change public attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and bring about positive change.

As part of their work they conduct research to highlight issues, and they have produced a series of school ‘reports’.

School Report 2017: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans pupils in Britain’s schools.

Stonewall have conducted a series of surveys of LGBTQ+ youngsters since 2007, with the latest being published in 2017. This report gathered the views and experiences of over 3700 young people who identified as LGBTQ+. Although the study does not make entirely clear how the survey was conducted, which has led some to question the quality of the findings, it is one of the few large-scale surveys that have been carried out in the UK so its results are important to consider.

The report is positive in some respects, as it shows an improving picture for LGBTQ+ students in schools compared to the earlier reports conducted by Stonewall. However, it does still show that LGBTQ+ students face considerable challenges in schools. Amongst other things, students report significant levels of bullying, are concerned with how well schools address poor behaviour and derogatory language, and highlight issues relating to the curriculum and levels of support for students. The findings relating to trans students were of particular concern, as the survey indicated trans students were more likely to have a more negative experience, for example facing higher levels of bullying and reporting higher levels of self-harm.
The study does present a set of recommendations schools and other organisations could follow to address the challenges highlighted.

Overall, the study provides an important snapshot of issues facing LGBTQ+ students, so should be of interest to schools and academics. Unfortunately, there has not been a similar survey since 2017, so circumstances clearly may have changed, but the findings do provide a benchmark against which more recent research can be compared.

Click here to read the full report