The government is considering issuing new guidance to same-sex schools in England to say that they will not be legally obliged to admit transgender pupils.

The new advice is being drawn up by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch. It will cover the legal position of same-sex schools in relation to pupil admission decisions. It will also consider how teachers will legally be allowed to respond to children who are questioning their gender identity.

The guidance is expected to say schools will not be breaching the Equality Act if they refuse to admit transgender pupils. This will mean that all-girls' schools could reject applications from pupils who identify as female but whose legal sex is male, and vice versa for boys' schools. School leaders will also be permitted to refuse to use a pupils' preferred pronoun, the reports suggest.

There is no suggestion at this stage that a child who is questioning their gender identity would be forced to leave a same-sex school if they are already registered.

A Department for Education source told The Telegraph: "Single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the other legal sex regardless of whether the child is questioning their gender." This comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised new guidance for school on gender issues before the summer term in the wake of a "concerning" report.

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said schools are being "caught in the crossfire between opposing views and beliefs" and new guidance is "clearly needed".

Schools have reportedly attested that a lack of advice has left them in a mine field.

The new guidance comes as the government also deliberates changing the Equality Act to allow transgender women to be barred from some same-sex spaces.

Ms Badenoch is also considering changing the legal definition of sex to "biological", in a move that has been supported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) but condemned by LGBT+ charity Stonewall.