1. Research and training in Further and Higher Education University of Salford September 2012

2. The Forum A partnership of membership organisations and sector agencies in post school education Share information on own organisation projects and work together on Forum activity CEL and UCU brought the Forum together initially with NUS, LSC, UNISON and LLUK Concern with reports of conflict between people of faith and people of different sexual orientations

3. Partners Learning and Skills Improvement Service Association of Colleges Association of Employment and Learning Providers Higher Education Funding Council for England Equality Challenge Unit Association of Teachers and Lecturers UNISON University and College Union National Union of Students Skills Funding Agency Young People’s Learning Agency

4. Managing the Interface: sexual orientation and faith A guide for further education and higher education July 2010 Research and guidance

5. Shared goal to enable people within FE and HE organisations to identify and tackle any issues relating to the interface between the two equality areas Scoped by Forum and National Council of Faiths and Beliefs in FE (FBFE) 2009 Research 2010 Events to launch guidance 2010 and 2011 Development

6. Research Findings Staff services Learner residencies Student services and students’ unions Teaching learning and assessment Governance The role of trade unions Policy – ensuring parity for all groups Bullying and harassment Where equality and diversity in the culture and ethos there tended to be mutually respectful relations

7. The guidance will help users in FE and HE to: meet the requirements of equality legislation embed a culture and ethos of inclusion and respect for difference in their organisations develop an approach to equality and diversity that promotes good relations between sexual orientation equality and equality on the grounds of religion or belief meet the needs of its learners and staff with different sexual orientations and different religions or beliefs develop and implement a single equality scheme or comparable methods of embedding equality into mainstream business planning. Aim of the guidance

8. Guidance supports an anticipatory approach rather than responding to incidents as they arise Events to launch the research and guidance LSIS and Forum: Sexual orientation and religion and belief workshops Phil Barnett and Christine Rose Sharon Ferguson and Mark Solomon NUS, FBFE and the Forum Training

9. http://sgforum.org.uk Forum documents: Managing the interface Trans guidance for post school education (2012) Twelve steps to tackling discrimination Partner documents: Employing people in higher education: sexual orientation ECU Seventh strand (LSIS training resource on gender identity - requires free registration) Visible and valued (LSIS training resource on sexual orientation - requires free registration Further information

10. Contact Seth Atkin satkin@ucu.org.uk