School bans skirts in new 'gender-neutral' uniform policy to stop girls 'abusing' rules

11 June 2022, 22:33 | Updated: 11 June 2022, 22:35

From September all students at Tiverton High School will be required to wear trousers
From September all students at Tiverton High School will be required to wear trousers. Picture: Alamy

By Megan Hinton

A UK secondary school has scrapped skirts and opted for a "more gender-neutral" uniform for students.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

From September, all students at Tiverton High School will be required to wear trousers after the school implemented uniform "modifications".

Parents were informed of the changes on June 9th with the only exception to the Devon school's new rule being PE sessions.

The new trouser only policy was announced by the school in a bid to make uniform "more gender-neutral" but also to stop girls wearing skirts that are shorter than knee length.

As well as implementing the change to have a more gender-neutral uniform, it was also announced due to a persistent problem of girls wearing their skirts shorter than knee length.

Read more: Scrap use of 'Sir' and 'Miss' and adopt gender-neutral language, teachers told

Ex-Cop hits out at gender neutral uniforms

Sammy Crook, the school's headmistress, said: "We will follow other secondary schools in implementing a more gender-neutral uniform policy.

"Parents/carers will be pleased to know that the majority of the uniform will remain as it is, with the exception that from September all students will be expected to wear trousers."

Adding: "We never take decisions like this lightly and go through a detailed process over time in order to come to the right conclusions for our students and the school.

"This change to uniform policy has the approval of our governors, and balances the demands placed on us in matters including standards of education, parental cost, inclusivity and student health."

The headmistress said it was "frustrating" and "time consuming" to enforce the school skirt length policy which was being "abused" by girls and had "attracted many complaints from the public and from visitors to the school".

Ms Crook added that she believed: "Trousers also standardise how our students dress, so that we and they can focus on what we consider to be our primary objective: learning."

She added that it had become “frustrating” and “time consuming” for staff to keep having to enforce the school’s skirt length policy.

Read more: Met gender neutral uniforms 'pandering to multiple-binary nonsense'

Parents have reacted to the news on social media, with one mother writing: "Ultimately this rule is fundamentally sexist.

"They would never insist that all boys wear skirts, the fact that they can insist that girls wear trousers is purely because they are female and therefore the decision has been made on account of their gender, it strips them of choice and is therefore sexist."

Some questioned whether the trouser rule would also apply to female staff whilst another Facebook user said: "So is the argument about making the school gender neutral or about changing a uniform because the latter is simple but the first is taking away the rights of existing genders to suit others It has far bigger implications.

"Wearing a uniform never eradicated the rich family /poor family outlook so why not have freedom of choice to feel comfortable in your own skin .

"Then there's no need to head it Gender neutral at all. You are all unique in your own ways, whatever path they have chosen.

"I thought it was all about teaching acceptance to be who you chose. Not to push the ways of others onto all."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Exclusive
Lisa Nandy will meet with BBC bosses over the documentary

Culture Secretary to meet with BBC bosses amid controversy over Gaza documentary

Commuter chaos

Commuter chaos after thieves steal rail cables - is your route affected?

BBC Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone documentary has come under criticism.

'Absolute disgrace': Executive producer Leo Pearlman rebukes the BBC over Gaza documentary

Exclusive
A graphic depiction of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, the two documentary makers behind the project are now facing criticism over their casting.

BBC issues apology over Gaza documentary amid calls for corporation to call Hamas a terror organisation

Palestinians look at weapons as Hamas fighters take up a position ahead of handing over the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, who had long been feared dead, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip

Hamas returns bodies of four Israeli hostages taken during the October 7 attack

London, UK, 11 September, 2024. Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan attend The National Television Awards Red Carpet  Arrivals at the O2 Arena, on 11 September, 2024, in London, England, United Kingdom. Credit: S.A.M./Alamy Live News

Pregnant Michelle Keegan and husband Mark Wright's terror as masked burglars raid £3.5million Essex mansion

London, UK. 16th Feb, 2025. Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade, gives an interview after appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg Credit: Karl Black/Alamy Live News

Business Secretary faces calls to resign over 'fabricated CV' after falsely claiming to be a solicitor

The front pages of assorted various welsh local national and regional newspapers, wales UK

Government urged to set up £50 million a year fund for local news

Exclusive
Lucy Frazer says the BBC has questions to be answered over its new documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone

'Questions to answer': Former Culture Sec says BBC should take down Gaza documentary and investigate

Steven Clark

Man, 50, found guilty of murdering elderly partner, 80, found dead in retirement housing complex

A Polish woman claiming to be missing girl Madeleine McCann has been arrested on arrival to the UK

Polish woman claiming to be Madeleine McCann arrested on arrival to the UK

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Meets With President Of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky In Washington

Starmer shows support for 'democratically elected' Zelenskyy after Trump 'dictator' comments

The studio flat offers a "mezzanine level" bedroom above the kitchen

Fury as London studio flat with 'mezzanine level' bedroom centimetres above kitchen goes on sale for measly £200k

Shah Rahman

Terrorist jailed for plotting to bomb London Stock Exchange in 2012 can be re-released from prison after Parole Board ruling

Seat backs and rows of passenger seats / seating on a BA Airbus A321 plane / airplane / aeroplane / air plane during flight. (133)

Plane passenger reveals how woman who stole his window seat was handed instant karma

The BBC has been accused of "blindly spouting propaganda" over the documentary

Israel makes official complaint as pressure mounts on BBC to address Gaza documentary row