Sectoral guidance: schools

This guidance is relevant to all schools, whether or not they are subject to the statutory race equality duty.

All maintained schools in England and Wales (community schools, foundation schools, voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools) are bound by the general duty to promote race equality under the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA). They also have specific duties, which differ from those for other public authorities. These include producing and maintaining a race equality policy . The duties for Scottish schools and education authorities differ from those in England.

Read about specific duties for Schools in England and Wales.

Read about specific duties for Schools in Scotland.

Private or independent schools, playgroups, pre-schools, and nurseries do not have specific duties unless they are part of local authority service provision, but we strongly urge them to do follow them, as the arrangements will help them to promote good race relations.

Your role

Schools have a vital role to play in preparing young people for life in Britain’s diverse and multi-ethnic society. Changing patterns of work, new technologies, and greater mobility mean that, in the course of their lives, people are likely to encounter many different cultures and backgrounds, wherever they live.

How schools meet their duties under the RRA can be a powerful factor in the promotion of good race relations, in the institution, in the local community, and in society generally. See our publication A Guide for Schools in the race equality duty publications and by scrolling to the education section.

Make sure that your race equality scheme addresses the duty to promote good race relations, and provide adequate resources to carry out all requirements.
Make sure pupils from all racial groups have equal opportunities to achieve their full educational potential.
Acknowledge the ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds of all pupils, and make sure these are reflected in the curriculum and in school activities generally.
Equip pupils with the learning and skills to be full citizens in today’s multi-ethnic society.
Use the National Curriculum to promote good race relations through learning activities.
Complement work done in the school to promote good race relations with outdoor learning activities in the local neighbourhood.
Work in partnership with parents, other schools, community groups and local education authorities to promote good race relations.

Don’t:

Fail to address in your race equality policy the duty to promote good race relations, or provide adequate resources to ensure delivery.
Fail to implement your racial equality policy effectively, or deal with any opposition or resentment from any racial groups.
Fail to communicate your policy or vision effectively to all staff (both teaching and non-teaching).
Fail to support and train your staff in promoting good race relations.
Fail to monitor differences in areas such as academic performance or expulsions or suspensions, identify the reasons for such differences, and take remedial action.
Fail to take seriously tensions between pupils from different racial or ethnic backgrounds, or acknowledge racist incidents.
Allow segregation of pupils by racial group to develop in the school.
Communicate poorly with parents, which can lead to loss of confidence in the school among parents from certain racial groups.
Fail to make sure all staff are fully consulted on, and are involved in the development of, policies to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations.

Your organisation

The role of school governors

School governors can play a crucial part in promoting good race relations. They need to be aware of their responsibilities under the RRA, particularly the statutory duty schools have to promote good race relations. Governors should make sure their school monitors and reports on all activities relevant to the duty. Where needed, governors should receive training to help them in this role.

Membership of the governing body should reflect the ethnic composition of the local community, and governors from all racial groups should feel valued and able to contribute fully in their roles.

The role of local education authorities

As part of local authorities, local education authorities (LEAs) are bound by the duty to promote race equality. They can play a key role in encouraging and supporting schools to develop good practice in promoting good race relations. They also have a statutory responsibility to monitor the school’s workforce.

LEAs can help to promote good race relations by:

providing guidance and advice to schools on developing policies and action plans, and help with reviewing, monitoring and assessing functions and policies
holding workshops, sharing good practice, and providing access to relevant materials and resources
training and supporting school governors on how to promote good race relations
involving and consulting all staff in the development and implementation of policies to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations
advising on how to tackle race relations issues in the curriculum (such as in personal, social and health education lessons), and making sure that inter-faith issues are included in local religious education and citizenship education syllabi
making sure that school admission and exclusion policies promote, and do not hinder, good race relation
helping schools to combat racial harassment and other forms of racism effectively
helping schools to contact and consult parents from all racial groups
helping schools to encourage pupils and parents and guardians different racial groups to take part in school-related activities
dealing with complaints of discrimination and harassment from staff speedily, and notifying them of the outcomes of action taken.

For guidance on this section please go to race equality duty documents and scroll to the education section.

Sectoral guidance: schools

On this page

Your role

Promoting good race relations: dos and don’ts

Your organisation

The role of local education authorities

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