Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

Our commitment

We are committed to fair treatment and equal opportunity for learners, work-seekers, employers, staff and visitors, and to widening access to careers in driving — including for people who are under-represented in the industry, such as women, disabled people, people from ethnic minority backgrounds and veterans. Our equality lead is [to be confirmed: equality, diversity and inclusion lead].

The law

The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation because of the protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. We will not discriminate directly or indirectly, and we make reasonable adjustments for disabled people (Reasonable adjustments policy).

In practice

• Admissions: applications are assessed against the funding and training requirements only. Age matters only where a funding rule or the law requires it (for example a minimum age for a licence category or a funding rule), and we explain this.
• Matching: job matching never uses protected characteristics.
• Vacancies: we reject vacancies that discriminate unlawfully.
• Accessibility: our website aims to meet WCAG 2.2 AA (Accessibility statement).
• Harassment: harassment of any kind, including sexual harassment, is not tolerated. As an employer we take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of our staff, including by third parties such as learners or employers (Equality Act 2010 s. 40A, strengthened by the Employment Rights Act 2025 from October 2026).
• Monitoring: we do not currently collect equality monitoring data. If we do, it will be optional, anonymous in reporting, kept separately and never used to make decisions about individuals.

Responsibilities

Everyone is responsible for treating others fairly. Managers act on concerns promptly. Complaints of discrimination or harassment can be made through the Complaints policy and procedure (or the staff grievance procedure) and will be investigated fairly.

Review

This policy is reviewed every year.

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