Privy Counsel: Tom Waddicor on the importance of a well designed school WC

It was not an altogether pleasant surprise to see the toilets from a primary school project we designed used as a stock photo for a story in the national press this week about the rise in constipation in children in England and Wales[1]. The photo, however, has a place in the story as WCs were built in 2018 replacing dated facilities in a Victorian Board school and – though the photo doesn’t capture this – were specifically designed to improve the school toilet experience for pupils, tackling the anxiety many pupils face of going to the loo at school.

The quality of loos remains one of the key areas of complaint flagged during school engagement sessions with pupils, but the issue is not new. The urban myth we all heard on going to ‘big school’ is that before the end of year 7, your head would be flushed down the toilet. I’ve yet to meet anyone who suffered this fate, but toilets in schools have been historically grim places, reeking of urine with peeling vinyl floors and wads of toilet paper splattered over the ceiling. I visited a primary school only last week where this picture still rings alarmingly true.

In the early noughties, much work was done to reconsider the design of school toilets to address some of these common gripes and particularly to reduce these flashpoints for bullying – as they are often remote, unloved parts of a school with little supervision. Borne out of the Building Schools for the Future programme, an exemplar design guide was produced by the DfE (or at the time, Department for Education and Skills) in the form of the excellent Standard Specification, Layout and Dimensions (SSLD) suite of documents.

Many designers contributed to these guides, providing sample layouts and precedent images. SSLD 3 Toilets in Schools, specifically, sought to tackle the issues around WCs. Written in collaboration with the ‘Bog Standards’ campaign, this set out to deliver a School Toilet Charter. A recent school design prompted me to look up this useful resource to share with a colleague and I was alarmed to see that Bog Standards has fallen off the face off the internet.

The details of conveniences in public buildings remains firmly on the agenda; 2024 saw toilet design move from the world of guidance to the realms of statutory regulation with Requirements T1 entering the Building Regulations in England[2]. Where the SSLDs focused on multiple benchmarks of quality, T1’s focus is specifically related to gender designation and provision of single sex facilities. It’s worth noting that T1 does not preclude the provision of unisex facilities, provided single sex toilets are provided alongside them. Despite the narrow remit of T1, its aims – to ensure choice for the individual – are valid in the context of user-centered design. Interestingly, however, schools are one of only a handful of building types to be expressly excluded from the requirements of T1.

Back then, to the School Toilet Charter, which thanks to a further delve into the archives can still be found in part in the Partnership for Schools SSLD archive[3]. and are well worth a read. For ease of reference, we’ve provided the fundamentals of the charter below: 

• Pupils must be allowed to use the toilet whenever they need to.
• There must be enough toilet cubicles for girls and boys.
• Toilet cubicles must be private and have doors that lock.
• Pupils with special educational needs and disabilities must have suitable toilets, which they can get to and use easily.
• Toilets must be looked after properly and not smell.
• Warm water and soap must be provided, plus towels or hand dryers.
• There must be enough toilet paper in all cubicles.
• Sanitary products and sanitary disposal units must be provided in toilets for girls aged eight and over.
• Toilets must be free from bullies and smokers.
• Schools must have a policy to keep pupils’ toilets clean and in good condition.
• Pupils must be involved in managing and improving their toilets.
• All complaints about toilets must be taken seriously.

These modest aims have informed our school designs for over a decade now and we will continue to champion the School Toilet Charter, aware that for too many children, using the toilet remains an unnecessarily unpleasant point in the school day. With a little thought and good design, we hope that toilet anxiety for pupils can be banished to the past along with the urban myths.

Senior Associate, Tom Waddicor, is our Education Lead.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/18/primary-age-child-constipation-rates-up-60-in-england-and-wales

[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67167c02d100972c0f4c9b38/ADT_2024.pdf

[3] https://www.partnershipsforschools.org.uk/library/BSF-archive/design-guidance/BSF-SSLD.html