Number of non-binary UK students doubles in two years

The number of UK students who define themselves as neither male nor female has more than doubled in just two years, figures reveal.

LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall said the data confirm that people are becoming increasingly confident to be themselves, thanks to more social acceptance and visibility of different sexual and gender identities.

Analysis of Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) figures by Times Higher Education shows that 5,505 students defined their sex as “other” in 2020-21 – rather than “male” or “female” – equivalent to 0.2 per cent of the student body.

This was a 42 per cent increase from the number the year before, and more than double that in 2018-19. In 2014-15 – the first year such comparable statistics were recorded – just 395 students recorded an answer of “other’.

The Hesa figures also show that there were 390 staff who did not define themselves as male or female last year – also equivalent to 0.2 per cent of all faculty members. This was up from 355 the year before, and just 35 in 2017-18, when such figures were first gathered.

“The steady increase in social acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ+ people in recent decades has led to an environment where more people are more confident in their sexual and gender identity,” said Robbie de Santos, director of communications and external affairs at Stonewall.

“These figures, among others, further confirm that more people are able to be themselves now in every part of their lives. It is important that universities work hard to ensure they are providing an inclusive, welcoming environment for all LGBTQ+ students.”

There is not yet an official figure for the proportion of the UK population who are non-binary, but a recent report from Stonewall found that 1 per cent of British respondents selected “non-binary” when asked about their gender identity and a further 1 per cent selected “genderqueer/gender fluid”.

Stonewall said 0.2 per cent is therefore likely an underestimate of the non-binary student population, and cautioned that the Hesa figures do not explicitly ask if people are non-binary.

About 750 students at King’s College London told Hesa they were neither male nor female – accounting for 14 per cent of the national total of students who described their sex as “other”.

Looking at higher education providers with at least 100 students, the proportion of students who responded to the survey with “other” was highest at the London School of Architecture – 5 per cent.

In contrast, there were no students at more than 100 universities who responded the same way.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com