School uniform and appearance policies that ban certain hairstyles without exceptions on racial grounds are 鈥渓ikely to be unlawful鈥, the equality watchdog has said. said pupils should not be stopped from wearing their hair in natural Afro styles or in braids, cornrows, plaits and head coverings and other styles in school.聽 It will publish new resources for schools today. They are endorsed by World Afro Day and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race Equality in Education, and are meant to help school leaders 鈥渆nsure hair or hairstyle policies are not unlawfully discriminatory鈥. It follows the high-profile case of Ruby Williams, a student who in 2020 won an out-of-court settlement of 拢8,500 after she was repeatedly sent home from school because she had Afro hair. The case was funded by the EHRC. Department for Education guidance already states uniform policies cannot be discriminatory. But in its response to the Sewell report on race and ethnic disparities, the government pledged improved resources for schools, after acknowledging the 鈥渧ery real, practical difficulty compliance with some uniform policies may pose to black children and their parents鈥. The EHRC resources are separate from that pledge, and the DfE was approached for clarification on when its own guidance will be published.聽 The commission said 鈥渃ourt cases, research and the experience of our stakeholders indicate that hair-based discrimination disproportionately affects girls and boys with Afro-textured hair or hairstyles.鈥澛 50 reports of hair discrimination It said the Equality Advisory and Support Service, which provides advice to the public on equality law, 鈥渉as received 50 calls since 2018 reporting potential cases of hair discrimination鈥. Discrimination 鈥渃an range from describing someone鈥檚 hairstyle as inappropriate or exotic through to outright bans on certain hairstyles and bullying鈥. Many of those affected say their schools 鈥渓ack understanding about Afro hair and the care it needs鈥. The resources due to be published today include guidance on stopping hair discrimination, with practical examples for schools on when a policy may be discriminatory, based on real-life experiences. They also include a decision-making tool to help school leaders to draft and review their policies, and an animated video to 鈥渞aise awareness of indirect race discrimination in schools and what should be done to prevent it鈥.聽 Discrimination has ‘long-lasting consequences’ Jackie Killeen, chief regulator at the EHRC, said discrimination based on hair 鈥渃an have serious and long-lasting consequences for victims and their families鈥. 鈥淎s Britain鈥檚 equality regulator, we want to put a stop to pupils being unfairly singled out for their appearance in schools. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why, after working closely with experts and those directly affected, we are launching these practical resources to help school leaders understand the law in this area and prevent discrimination from happening.鈥 L鈥檓yah Sherae, founder and chief coordinator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race Equality in Education said 鈥渘o child should be sent home from school for wearing their natural hair鈥. 鈥淲e want Black children across the UK to know that they can be genuinely proud of their identity, not penalised for it. I am therefore pleased that this guidance is now being published, and I am proud to have been involved in the drafting process.鈥 Michelle De Leon, founder and CEO of World Afro Day said the resources were an 鈥渋mportant step towards ending hair discrimination, which many children with Afro hair experience on a daily basis鈥. 鈥淲e hope that these resources will be an effective tool to clarify equality law for teachers and help shift the bias against Afro hair that has become ingrained in some parts of the education system.鈥