Opinion

Equality Act: The 10th protected characteristic

Poverty
The Equality Act details nine protected characteristics with clear implications for schools found guilty of discrimination in any of these areas. Matt Bromley says that we need to add a 10th to this list…
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The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for schools to discriminate against, harass or victimise a pupil or potential pupil in relation to admissions, in the way they provide education or access to any benefit, facility or service because of their:

These seven identifiers are called “protected characteristics”. There are nine in total, with “age” and “marriage and civil partnership” completing the list.

But I don’t think the law goes far enough. I think there should be a 10th protected characteristic: social class. It should be unlawful to discriminate against someone on the basis of their social class. This is especially important in schools – after all, class plays an important role in education and in later life.

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