The short answer
Only in a specific form. Pupils aged eight and over must have separate toilets for boys and girls, unless each toilet is in a room for one pupil at a time that can be secured from the inside. So enclosed single rooms with a shared wash area can work; rows of open cubicles shared by boys and girls are unlikely to meet it.
On this page
“Unisex”, “gender neutral” and “all gender” toilets in schools draw strong opinions, and the words mean different things to different people. For a school planning a refurbishment, the useful question is narrower: what does the law allow, and what layouts meet it?
What the regulation says
Regulation 4 of the School Premises (England) Regulations 2012 requires separate toilet facilities for boys and girls aged eight or over. There is one exception: a toilet in a room that can be secured from the inside and is intended for use by one pupil at a time. Academies and free schools have the same rule through the independent school standards.
So the test is about the room, not the sign on the door.
Layouts that meet the rule
Separate boys’ and girls’ rooms
The traditional layout: two rooms, each with cubicles and basins, often with urinals in the boys’ room. Simple and clearly compliant.
Enclosed single rooms with a shared wash area
Each toilet is a fully enclosed room, with walls and a door from floor to ceiling and a lock on the inside. The rooms open onto a shared area of basins or troughs that staff can see from the corridor. Because each room is for one pupil and secures from the inside, it falls within the exception.
Many newer schools use this layout because it helps supervision: the place where pupils gather is the open wash area, not a closed room.
Mixed for younger pupils only
Under-eights can share facilities. Infant schools and Key Stage 1 areas often have one shared room with low cubicles and basins, which is allowed and helps staff support young children.
Layouts that do not
A room of ordinary cubicles, with gaps above and below the partitions, shared by boys and girls aged eight and over, is unlikely to meet regulation 4. A cubicle with open gaps is hard to describe as a room, and the room as a whole is not single sex. If you are unsure about a particular design, take advice before you build it, not after.
What about Part T?
Part T of the Building Regulations, in force since October 2024, deals with single-sex and universal toilets in many non-domestic buildings. The amending regulations exclude schools, so it does not decide school layouts. The School Premises Regulations do.
Design points if you choose enclosed rooms
- True full height. Walls and doors from floor to ceiling, with no gaps at the hinge or lock side. Ask for full-height cubicles in solid grade laminate or built partitions.
- Locks staff can open. An indicator bolt with an emergency release from outside.
- Ventilation in every room. Enclosed rooms need their own extract, or they will smell.
- Space. Enclosed rooms take more floor area than open cubicles, so you may fit fewer in the same room. Check this on a scale drawing before you commit.
- Sanitary bins. Provide them in every room used by older pupils.
- Consultation. Pupils and parents notice changes to toilets. Explain the layout and the reasons before the work starts.
Cost differences
Full-height cubicles cost more than standard ones: list prices start at about £644 per cubicle before VAT, against about £364 for standard school cubicles in solid grade laminate. Each enclosed room also needs light and extract. Use the cost planner for a budget and ask contractors to price both layouts on the same drawing.
The short version
From age eight, boys and girls need separate toilets unless each toilet is a single room that locks from the inside. Enclosed full-height rooms with an open, supervised wash area meet the rule. Shared rows of ordinary cubicles are unlikely to. Part T does not apply to schools.
Weighing up layouts for a school toilet refurbishment? Send us the brief and get prices on both.