Schools face confusion about what and when they need to teach children about LGBT relationships, an Ofsted review has found.

The watchdog said that some schools felt there was a lack of support from the Department for Education (DfE) on this issue and contradictions in the information it publishes.

The report warns that this situation could potentially lead to conflict with parents.

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It also highlighted that there were grey areas, with an “awareness that primary schools can opt not to teach LGBT issues if they do not deem this age-appropriate and after consultation with parents”.

Ofsted has carried out research into teaching about the protected characteristics of sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment in England’s schools.

A commentary on the issue by its director of corporate strategy, Chris Jones, has been published today.

Here are its key findings:

1. There is confusion around what is required on LGBT teaching

Mr Jones said: “There was confusion among schools about what the various pieces of guidance required teachers to teach in relation to LGBT matters in particular.”

He points out that government guidance identifies a minimum requirement, but “does not contemplate any ceiling on what can be taught at what age, so there can be pressure to go further, potentially causing conflict with some parents”.

The commentary said that leaders were mostly asking for information on what should or should not be taught at each age. “Headteachers were left to decide when something should be taught, but some perceived this as a lack of support from DfE,” it added.

2. Schools need help finding the right resources

The Ofsted research found that schools have also called for more support in choosing external providers and teaching resources.

One leader said they “would love someone to filter this for us instead of finding out the hard way. Someone comes in with completely inappropriate tone. I like the idea of having a national standard”.

They added: “These people crop up and get funding from wherever…emailing schools the whole time. There is a place for people with specific skills who can deliver better than the teachers. Would be nice to have a bank that we can dip into that’s already been vetted.”

The report said that schools would also like access to a “pool of quality resources for schools”.

3. There is a lack of research to help schools

Ofsted said there is a scarcity of research that could inform teaching or pastoral support.

One middle leader in a primary school told the watchdog: “It would be useful to have more research. There is so little out there.”

4. Speaking to parents can help dispel misconceptions around LGBT teaching

New government guidance, which came into effect in September last year, made it mandatory to deliver relationship education at primary schools, and relationship and sex education at secondary school.

Ofsted said that sometimes parents expressed dissatisfaction at their child being taught about LGBT matters. It said, in these instances, when staff talked to them about exactly what it is they teach at school, it can help to dispel misconceptions that parents may have had.

However Mr Jones points out that “it may not have solved the fundamental disagreement”.

5. Schools promote equality for moral rather than legal reasons

The report says that despite schools facing a legal duty through the Equality Act, Ofsted found that staff promoted a culture of respect across the protected characteristics mainly for what they described as moral rather than legal reasons.

It said they intended to improve pupils’ mental health, wellbeing, safety, academic outcomes and breadth of future career choices, as well as to prepare them for diversity in wider society.

6. Pupils will turn to social media and internet for answers without school support

Ofsted warn that when pupils are not exposed to these topics in schools, they frequently resorted to learning from social media and the internet, and in some cases from friends and family.

Mr Jones added: “Even though the internet holds a range of good-quality resources, it also contains content that is not of a sufficient quality or accuracy, and parents are often unable to control the age-appropriateness of what children are viewing. Therefore, there are inherent risks when pupils use online content, or non-expert friends and family, as the main sources of information about, for example, being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT).”

7. Some pupils felt they lacked the knowledge they needed

Ofsted said some pupils who struggled with finding or accepting their identity, or who were not accepted by other pupils, said that “insufficient knowledge had contributed to their low wellbeing and mental ill-health”.

Mr Jones added : “As a result of not learning enough at school, some pupils expressed concern that they ‘would not know how to help someone who came out to feel comfortable in a friendship group’ or admitted that they would struggle with accepting someone with a different sexual orientation or someone who is trans.”

8. Schools teach pupils about relationships and gender identity across subjects

Ofsted found that teaching about sex and gender stereotypes, sexual orientations, and sometimes gender reassignment, was often planned and integrated across the curriculum.

It could be part of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, religious education (RE), relationships and sex education (RSE), English, languages, science, history, music, art and technology.

In schools with a religious character in the sample, teaching about sexual orientation and gender reassignment was often done alongside teaching about faith perspectives.

9. Primary schools used LGBT role models

In many primary schools in Ofsted’s sample, pupils were introduced to LGBT role models, both historical figures and influential people from the present day.

Ofsted said primary pupils were taught, in an age-appropriate way, about:

• Different types of family, for example with a mum and dad, two mums or two dads.
• Appropriate language to use to refer to LGBT people.
• Bullying, including homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Mr Jones added: “In some primary schools we visited, they were also taught about same-sex marriage and how the law protects people with different characteristics. This was also covered in many secondary schools but with more nuance and detail, in view of pupils’ age.”

10. Secondary school teaching of LGBT covers empathy and rights

Ofsted said that secondary school pupils in many of the sampled schools were taught about:

• The rights of LGBT people across time and societies current national and international issues.
• The Equality Act and EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission).
• How to accept themselves for who they are.
• How to support and have empathy for pupils with different protected characteristics.

11. Schools are trying to minimise gender stereotypes

The commentary highlights how many schools involved in the research worked hard on minimising sex and gender stereotypes through their teaching.

“Staff saw breaking entrenched and negative social stereotypes as a way of broadening horizons and teaching children that ‘gender should not be an obstacle to anything you can achieve in your life’,” the commentary says.

Ofsted also found that schools’ work on sex and gender stereotypes could also help pupils who do not conform to those stereotypes, including some LGBT pupils. Mr Jones added: “For example, it may contribute to reducing homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying if bullying originates from stereotypical notions of boys and girls.”

Ofsted’s findings were based on research done at 24 state schools that were deemed to be successful at promoting respect across the protected characteristics of sex, sexual orientation and gender reassignment.