‘Suitable’ toilet and washing facilities must be provided for the sole use of pupils.
All schools must have separate washrooms for male and female pupils aged eight and over, except where the toilet facility is provided in a room what can be secured from the inside and is intended for use by one pupil at a time.
Where separate facilities are provided for pupils who are disabled, the regulation specifies that they may also be used by other pupils, teachers and others employed at the school, as well as visitors, whether or not they are disabled. As noted above, however, NEU policy is that staff and pupil facilities should always be separate.
‘Suitable’ changing accommodation, including showers, must be provided for children aged 11 or over at the start of the school year. Consideration may also be given to providing changing rooms, with or without showers, at primary schools for pupils who need to wear sports kit for physical education, but this is not required under the regulation. This means that suitable changing accommodation is only required from year 7.