Shock report shows high numbers of LGBTQ+ students dropping out of school
New research by Theirworld has revealed alarming dropout rates at secondary schools in many countries - following an earlier report that exposed widespread bullying and discrimination in UK schools.
Lav vividly remembers begging their parents to let them leave secondary school. The reason? Discrimination against LGBTQ+ students like them.
Lav (he/they), now 23 and from Liverpool, is transmasculine, non-binary and an ambassador for the British charity Just Like Us. They said: “I remember very clearly how other LGBTQ+ people were spoken about amongst my school peers – ‘strange, weird, people to stay away from’.
“I carried this huge shame, which felt heavier than my backpack of books. I had to hide my gender identity like a dirty secret. A teacher told me the problem was with me, that if I wanted to have friends like everyone else then I needed to change who I was.”
Sadly, Lav’s story is far from unusual. A new study by Theirworld reveals that LGBTQ+ students across the world are dropping out of education at alarmingly high rates. In some countries – including Mexico, Costa Rica, Turkey, Brazil, Spain, and Argentina – more than half of LGBTQ+ students are projected to leave secondary school early if current trends continue.
In the United Kingdom, nearly a quarter (24.8%) may not complete secondary school (age 11-16), twice the average of 12.1% across the general school population and higher than comparable nations such as France (22.1%), Australia (15.8%) and Poland (10.9%).
In the United States, the study reveals one in every 10 (11.6%) LGBTQ+ students are projected to drop-out of high school compared to 5.7% across the country’s education system. In Canada, the projected drop-out rate is 9.9%.
The findings come from a team led by Theirworld President Justin van Fleet and including Shelby Carvalho from Harvard University and Patrick Shaw from Brown University. They applied data modelling on OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and official government statistics across all 38 OECD member countries to estimate drop-out rates among LGBTQ+ pupils.
Van Fleet said: “Historically, it has been difficult to pinpoint drop-out rates among LGBTQ+ students, so this data is likely to come as a shock to many. It’s astonishing that young people identifying as LGBTQ+ are finding schools to be places of discrimination instead of tolerance, understanding and safety.
“When we fail to nurture all young people, we face not only a moral dilemma but serious economic consequences. Our projections show that exclusion from education doesn’t just harm individuals, it holds back the economy, limits workforce potential, and undermines social progress.
“We must act urgently to create safe, inclusive school environments where every young person, and all of us, can thrive.”
The startling figures build on Theirworld research which last year revealed the shocking extent of bullying and discrimination in UK schools towards LGBTQ+ pupils. It showed nearly half said they had faced hostility in educational settings, with more than one in four saying they do not or did not feel safe at school.
The new Theirworld study suggests that as many as 650,000 LGBTQ+ youth in the US currently aged 12-17 may not complete their education. In the UK, that figure is over 280,000.
The researchers also predict long-term economic consequences. They project each graduating class of LGBTQ+ students who leave school early costs up to $706 million in lost productivity to the US economy and £233 million to the UK economy. Over a working lifetime that equates to more than $30 billion for each cohort of US students not graduating high school and more than £10 billion for each UK cohort.
Theirworld’s LGBTQ+ Safe Schools and Education Task Team, made up of eight young people from six countries, will meet with local representatives in the next six months to discuss the results and make key recommendations to schools, including:
- Enforcing strong anti-bullying policies for all students, irrespective of sexual identity, and greater training for staff on conflict resolution
- Creating anonymous reporting and support systems so students can seek help, safely, and without fear of reprisal
Task team member Nirvana Yarger, 27, is a teacher from London and a Global Youth Ambassador for Theirworld who identifies as queer. Yarger said: “This research is a wake-up call. We’re seeing a dangerous backslide in how LGBTQ+ young people are treated. If schools want students to stay in education and thrive, they must step up. There are practical steps schools can take – and they must start now.”
Those steps will come too late for Phoebe (she/her), a lesbian and Just Like Us ambassador who left formal education at 16. She said: “I was offered a place at a dance college. I had trained for a year towards the audition. But after receiving a place with a scholarship, I left after only one week due to anti-LGBT+ language. This behaviour was from both pupils and teachers alike.
”At this time, I had just come out. I felt unsafe around my peers and teachers. This episode affected me to the extent that it became my last attempt at formal education.”