A women-only Cambridge college, Murray Edwards College, recently changed its admission policy to allow and accept transgender students who identify as female. Closely following on its footsteps, another women-only college, Lucy Cavendish College, on Wednesday decided to review its admission policy. The policy is expected to make it easier for individuals who are classified as men but identify as women to apply at the college. Cambridge has three women-only college which required applicants to be 'legally defined as female' in order to be considered for admission.
While making the announcement about the change in admission policy, Dame Barbara Stocking, the president of Murray Edwards College, told the Guardian "We are a college that is open to all outstanding young women and so it is absolutely right, both legally and within our set of values, for anyone who identifies as female to be able to apply to study with us. There is now a greater understanding of the complexities of gender. In order that we remain true to our mission of being open to all outstanding young women we recognise that it is right for anyone who identifies as female, regardless of their born gender, to be able to apply to study with us."
The Lucy Cavendish College is also set to review its admission policy after a council meeting which happened on Wednesday night as per local time.
The third women-only college, Newnham College, had made a 'Transgender Policy Statement' in 2015 and stated that "any individual who had transitioned to female, and any individual who is legally recognized as female under the Gender Recognition Act".
The review of admission policy comes after UCAS removed the term 'legal' from their application forms where students were asked about their sex.
(With Inputs from various agancies)
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