This information is not intended to be exhaustive, and is still under development as we improve our policies. Please contact us if you have additional questions not covered on this page.
We recognise that trans applicants may face particular issues, including but not limited to:
- Having documentation in differing names
- Be experiencing gender dysphoria and have been experiencing it throughout their education
- Have been transitioning between child and adult gender identity clinic services at the time of key assessments and when making applications for future study
- Have fewer extra-curricular experiences to draw upon.
- Referees may refer to applicants by different names.
We have a duty and are committed to the principles of the Gender Recognition Act (2004) and the Equality Act (2010) that this information will be held confidentially, and handled sensitively, and will not disadvantage your application in any way.
For example, Documentation with differing names: we can accept these, unchanged, but we will require you to send us a Deedpoll or equivalent. We will never request a Gender Recognition Certificate. We have a “Known As” field for applicants who have not yet changed their name. Our unofficial contact will use this name in all cases.
If you wish to disclose your trans status, Graduate Admissions has a series of Named Contacts. They will provide confidential advice and support both filling out the application form, and with the overall application system. In addition, you can also request that all queries and issues that could impact the administrative processes of your application, be dealt with solely by them. This means you will deal with someone who will be sympathetic and aware of your situation, without you feeling like you have to make a disclosure each time you contact us, to a new member of staff. We will not pass this disclosure on to any other part of our organisation without your expressed written permission.
The named contacts are:
Bryan Pilkington (pronouns he/him) b.j.pilkington@lse.ac.uk
Corinne Spooner (pronouns she/her) c.l.spooner@lse.ac.uk
We would also encourage you to let us know of any issues that may impact on your safety such as If you are currently open to the people you currently live with, or your family and how we should address you in official communication.
We would encourage you to additionally disclose your trans status in the monitoring section of our application form. This data is anonymous, confidential, will not be on your final application, and will only ever be used for monitoring purposes.
The LSE is committed to supporting all of our applicants and to putting in place policies in line with the Gender Recognition Act (2004) and the Equalities Act (2010) You can find further details on LSE’s Equalities policies on our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Website.