Gender-Related Courses for Educational Psychologist Trainees

Reference: 25-26384

Date response sent: 05/01/2026

Details of enquiry

I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) to request recorded information held by the University regarding training delivered to Trainee Educational Psychologists (TEPs) on matters relating to gender and LGBTQI+ topics.

Under Section 1(1) FOIA, I request the following information:

Curriculum and Session Overview: For all Educational Psychology training programmes delivered by the University between 1 September 2022 and July 2025, please provide:

a. The curriculum overview or plan for any teaching that relates to gender, gender development, gender identity, gender incongruence, gender non-conformity, gender distress, transgender children, or LGBTQI+ issues.

b. The number of sessions delivered on these topics during each academic year.

c. The titles of sessions, workshops, lectures, or modules covering these topics.

d. A brief description or summary of the content of each session.

2. Teaching Materials: Please provide electronic copies of presentations, slide decks, handouts, reading lists, or other materials provided to TEPs for these sessions. If full disclosure is prevented by exemptions such as Section 40 (personal data) or Section 43 (commercial interests), I request that information be supplied with appropriate redactions, in accordance with Sections 1(1)(b) and 2(2) of the Act.

3. Delivery of Sessions: For each session identified, please provide the name or role/position of the person delivering the session. If personal data exemptions apply, please provide their job title, department, or external organisation.

Format and Scope: To assist with the University’s duties under Section 16 FOIA (advice and assistance) and to minimise the burden on staff, I have specified the topic area narrowly, provided a clear timeframe, and limited the request to recorded materials already held. If fulfilling this request would exceed the cost limit under Section 12 FOIA, please advise me as soon as possible. I am willing to refine the request if needed.

Response sent

Our overall curricular approach emphasises the integration and pedagogical development of trainees’ knowledge, skills and competencies, informed by several teaching principles e.g.:

The emphasis placed on experiential learning. As such, we do not teach Knowledge & Understanding Learning Outcomes [e.g. children, adolescent and adult development] in abstract, removed-from-context discreet blocks or sessions but take a more reflexive and integrated approach.

We foreground relationships, especially relationships for learning and where supervision is a ‘signature pedagogy’. Supervision on professional practice placements in local authority Educational Psychology Services is central to this pedagogical approach and is part of learning about identity and development, including gender identity and development, in a holistic and applied context.

Our curriculum complies with and ensures the trainees are taught all relevant legislation, statutory guidance and professional practice standards [including those pertaining to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults].

This programme is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS).

All of our teaching meets the HCPC standards for education and training (SETs) and is informed by the HCPC Standards of Proficiency (SoPs) and their Standards for Conduct, Performance and Ethics (SCPE). We therefore include a wide range of learning and teaching activities as relates to these, for example:

SoP 5.1 Respond appropriately to the needs of all groups and individuals in practice, recognising that this can be affected by difference of any kind including, but not limited to, protected characteristics, intersectional experiences and cultural differences.
SoP 5.8 Understand the impact of differences of any kind, including, but not limited to, the protected characteristics, intersectional experiences and cultural differences, on psychological wellbeing or behaviour including how these differences may result in experiences of marginalization.
SoP 7.3 Understand the characteristics and consequences of verbal and non-verbal communication and recognise how these can be affected by difference of any kind, including, but not limited to, protected characteristics, intersectional experiences and cultural differences.
SoP 12.30 Understand psychological theories of, and research evidence in, child, adolescent and young adult development relevant to educational psychology.
SoP 12.32 Understand psychological models related to the influence of school ethos and culture, educational curricula, communication systems, management and leadership styles on the cognitive, behavioral, emotional and social development of children, adolescents and young adults.
SoP 12.35 Understand psychological models related to the influence on development of children, adolescents and young adults from:- family structures and processes;- cultural and community contexts; and – organisations and systems.

Throughout their time on the programme, trainees are expected to maintain suitable standards of conduct, performance and ethics, such that on joining the HCPC register, they meet all HCPC SCPE. Again, our curriculum ensures that we provide sufficient experience [including supervised professional practice placements] to prepare the trainees for this, including an expectation to promote and protect the interests of service users and carers and challenge discrimination, as defined by HCPC. The programme is accredited by the BPS and meets the accreditation standards as regards programme content requirements. This means, by the end of their programme, trainees are expected to:

Develop and apply effective interventions to promote psychological wellbeing and good mental health, to raise educational standards and social, emotional and mental health generally, and specifically for gender, minority and low socioeconomic status groups, tackling the underachievement of vulnerable groups, promoting inclusion and reducing social exclusion, supporting policy development and managing organisational change
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of race, religion or belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class and their intersection as relevant to professional practice. This will include showing an understanding of the impact of stigmatising beliefs.

b. The number of sessions delivered on these topics during each academic year.

In general, across the three years of training, to cover that curriculum approach outlined above, there are approximately

197 ‘teaching events’ in Year 1,
90 ‘teaching events’ in Year 2 [in addition to attendance at a Group Relations Conference]
56 ‘teaching events’ in Year 3. This includes Experiential Groups for all three year groups and excludes placements, individual supervision, etc.
There are three ‘All Years Events’ (AYE) per year that include all year groups. This includes one All-Year event, repeated every three years, entitled ‘Diverse Genders and Sexualities – a Contextual Approach’.

c. The titles of sessions, workshops, lectures, or modules covering these topics

‘Diverse Genders and Sexualities – a Contextual Approach’

d. A brief description or summary of the content of each session.

The event entitled “Diverse Genders and Sexualities – a Contextual Approach” covers gender and sexual diversity in context, in line with the above SOPs and competency standards. The Trust confirms that individual summaries of all M4 teaching materials are not held, and FOIA does not require a public authority to create new information to answer a request.

Section 11(1)(c) of FOIA does not enable a requester to obtain a summary of information that would otherwise be exempt, and we have advised you in our response to Question 2a below that the course materials are exempt from disclosure. Exemption engaged under section 11 of FOIA only applies to information that can be released under FOIA. If the information requested is exempt from disclosure, then section 11(1)(c) does not require the Trust to produce a ‘non-exempt’ summary of it.

The duties in FOIA section 11 only apply to information that can be released under the Act. If the information requested is exempt from disclosure, then section 11(1)(c) does not require the Trust to produce a ‘non-exempt’ summary of it. On this basis the Trust will not be processing your request for a description or summary of the content of each training session.

Teaching Materials:

a. Please provide electronic copies of presentations, slide decks, handouts, reading lists, or other materials provided to TEPs for these sessions.

i). We can confirm that the Trust holds electronic copies of the requested teaching materials.

ii) The reading list for this course, is publicly available and may be reached via this link: https://tavi.keylinks.org/new-ui/browse/16316.

iii) The remaining items you have requested, i.e., electronic copies of presentations, slide decks, handouts, other materials provided for these sessions are being withheld under Section 43(2) Prejudice to commercial interests of the FOIA.

Section 43(2) is a qualified exemption which requires the Trust to carry out the public interest test. We have carried out the public interest test and below are our considerations:

Arguments in favour of disclosure:

There is a public interest in knowing how courses are delivered, their order and content, and their outcomes.
Promoting accountability and transparency on how public funds are spent
To assist the public and other bodies to understand current teaching approaches to gender related matters.
The clinical field of gender dysphoria is a matter of public interest, accounting for a high level of media interest and varied views upon it across society

Arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption:

The Directorate for Education and Training, in which course M4 sits, is managed on an academic but also commercial for-profit basis. Any release of its training materials into the public domain might enable a commercial competitor to recreate our course for their commercial or other gain/s, which would prejudice our income and ability to attract students in what is seen to be a competitive market.
Our specialist clinical training materials form a suite of training activities. They are written for a defined audience of graduate and doctorate students, who have previous and relevant ongoing training experience. They are not written for public consumption, and out of context, publication into the unregulated public domain is not standard practice.

Any resulting misuse or misinterpretation of published clinical training materials from our courses could reflect negatively and erroneously on the reputation of the course and the Trust.

Having considered all the above points, the Trust has concluded that the public interest in withholding the requested information (electronic copies of presentations, slide decks, handouts, and other materials provided to Trainee Educational Psychologists which cover any teaching that relates to gender, gender development, gender identity, gender incongruence, gender non-conformity, gender distress, transgender children, or LGBTQI+ issues), outweighs the public interest in its disclosure, and as such this information is being withheld under FOIA s43.

FOIA s43(2) exempts information from disclosure where it would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (individual, company, public authority, or any other legal entity).

b. If full disclosure is prevented by exemptions such as Section 40 (personal data) or Section 43 (commercial interests), I request that information be supplied with appropriate redactions, in accordance with Sections 1(1)(b) and 2(2) of the Act.

In the responses above, the Trust has already denied provision of the course materials and summarised versions of these.

The Trust cannot provide redacted versions of the presentations, slide decks, handouts, reading lists, or other materials without blocking out the course content and delivery which would render the resulting documents senseless and not in keeping with the purpose of redaction, which is to mask individual words, numbers, and/or whole sections of a document whilst retaining meaningful information.

Delivery of Sessions: For each session identified, please provide the name or role/position of the person delivering the session. If personal data exemptions apply, please provide their job title, department, or external organization.

The employees delivering our training programme have consented to the publication of their names, job titles/roles and positions, which may be accessed via this link: https://tavistockandportman.ac.uk/courses/child-community-and-educational-psychology/.

Names and positions of third party external speakers and visiting lecturers is withheld and is exempt under Section 40(2) of the FOIA, Personal information about third parties, where complying with the request would contravene the UK General Protection Regulation or the Data Protection Act 2018. This is an absolute exemption that does not require the authority to carry out the public interest test.

In order to provide assistance to you, we advise that additional information on our courses is publicly available on our dedicated Education & Training website, which may be reached via this link: Education & Training at the Tavistock and Portman and the M4 course-specific web page Child, Community and Educational Psychology DProf – Tavistock Training. Should you have any questions about the information posted on our website, and/or should you wish to reduce or narrow the scope of your request, then the Trust would treat any new submission as a new FOI request and may be able to provide you with information which falls within the FOIA limits on the cost of compliance, subject to any other valid exemptions.