What Are the 9 Protected Characteristics?

The nine protected characteristics are set out in section 4 of the Equality Act 2010: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation. These are the grounds on which it is unlawful to discriminate against someone at work, in education, or when buying goods and services. The list is often misunderstood: some things people assume are protected, such as caring responsibilities, physical appearance and political opinion, are not standalone characteristics, while rights you might not expect, such as protection for people discriminated against because of who they are associated with, are built in. This guide explains what each one covers and where the common myths go wrong.

At a glance: Nexis CPD’s £9 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Awareness course covers the Equality Act 2010, all nine protected characteristics and the types of discrimination, so your team can recognise and prevent them. It is CPD accredited and 100% online with a verifiable e-certificate, and any three courses cost £18. It is awareness training and general information, not legal advice or a regulated qualification.

What are the 9 protected characteristics?

The nine protected characteristics come directly from section 4 of the Equality Act 2010, which simply lists them. The rest of the Act then defines each one and sets out what counts as unlawful discrimination. The Equality Act replaced a patchwork of older laws, such as the Race Relations Act and the Sex Discrimination Act, with a single framework covering England, Scotland and Wales. Here is what each characteristic means in law:

• Age. Being in a particular age group, or being a certain age. Age is the one characteristic where direct discrimination can sometimes be lawful if an employer can show it is “a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim” — for example, a genuine occupational requirement. It protects the young and the old equally.
• Disability. A physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. “Long-term” generally means it has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months. Some conditions, such as cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis, are treated as a disability from the point of diagnosis.
• Gender reassignment. Protection for a person who is proposing to undergo, is undergoing, or has undergone a process to reassign their sex. As we explain below, this does not require any medical treatment or surgery.
• Marriage and civil partnership. Being married or in a civil partnership. This is the narrowest characteristic and, as explained later, it is protected against some forms of discrimination but not all.
• Pregnancy and maternity. Protection during pregnancy and the period after giving birth, including protection connected with maternity leave. Unfavourable treatment because of pregnancy is treated separately from ordinary sex discrimination.
• Race. Colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins. This is a broad characteristic covering ethnic groups and the right to be treated the same regardless of where you or your family come from.
• Religion or belief. Any religion, or a religious or philosophical belief, and also a lack of religion or belief. A genuinely held philosophical belief can qualify if it meets the legal test, which is why some beliefs people assume fall outside the Act can actually be protected.
• Sex. Being a man or a woman. Both sexes are equally protected.
• Sexual orientation. Whether a person is attracted to their own sex, the opposite sex, or both.

A point that often gets lost is that these characteristics protect everyone, not just members of minority groups. Everyone has an age, a sex, a race and a sexual orientation, and most people are protected on several characteristics at once. The Act is about the ground of the treatment, not about belonging to a particular group.

What is not a protected characteristic?

This is where real-world confusion causes the most trouble, and it is the single most useful thing to get straight. Many things that feel like they ought to be protected are not standalone protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010:

• Caring responsibilities. There is no free-standing right not to be discriminated against for being a carer or a parent. In practice, though, treating someone badly because they care for a disabled relative can amount to discrimination “by association” (see below), and refusing flexible working to mothers can be indirect sex discrimination, so the protection often arrives through another route.
• Physical appearance. Being treated unfairly because of your looks, your weight, or your height is not, by itself, unlawful discrimination. It only becomes unlawful if it is tied to a protected characteristic — for example, if an appearance-based rule disadvantages one sex or a particular religion.
• Political opinion or party membership. General political belief is not a protected characteristic in Great Britain. (Northern Ireland, which has separate equality law, does protect political opinion.)
• Social class, accent or where you live. None of these is protected in its own right.

The important nuance is that the line is not always obvious, because a genuinely held belief can qualify under “religion or belief”. Tribunals apply a well-established five-part test from case law (often called the Grainger criteria): the belief must be genuinely held; be a belief, not an opinion based on present information; concern a weighty and substantial aspect of human life; attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness and cohesion; and be worthy of respect in a democratic society and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others. Beliefs as varied as ethical veganism and a serious belief about climate change have been accepted as philosophical beliefs under this test, while a mere political preference has not. Whether a particular belief qualifies is highly fact-specific, which is one reason this is general information rather than legal advice.

Does gender reassignment require surgery or a medical diagnosis?

No. This is one of the most common misunderstandings, and getting it wrong exposes employers to risk. Under section 7 of the Equality Act 2010, a person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if they are “proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex”. Crucially, the Act does not require the person to be under medical supervision, to have had any surgery, or to hold a Gender Recognition Certificate. The protection attaches to the process of reassigning one’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes, and that process can be entirely social.

In practical terms, this means a transgender employee is protected from the moment they begin the process — which might simply be deciding to live in their acquired gender and telling their employer — not only after medical steps are taken. It also means protection continues for someone who has fully transitioned. For employers, the message is simple: you do not get to demand medical evidence before treating someone’s protected characteristic seriously.

Why is marriage and civil partnership treated differently?

Marriage and civil partnership is the odd one out, and understanding why matters because people routinely overstate it. Two features set it apart.

First, it only protects people who are actually married or in a civil partnership. It does not protect single people, people who are divorced, people who are engaged, or those simply living together. Discriminating against someone for being single is not covered by this characteristic.

Second, and less widely known, it is not protected against every type of discrimination. It is protected against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation, but it is not protected against harassment. You can see this directly in the legislation: section 26, which defines harassment, lists the “relevant protected characteristics” as age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Marriage and civil partnership is missing from that list — and so is pregnancy and maternity. Those two are protected against harassment only through the overlap with sex (for example, harassment related to pregnancy can often be framed as harassment related to sex).

There is a further restriction specific to the workplace. Under section 13(4), direct discrimination on the marriage and civil partnership ground applies to work only where the less favourable treatment is because the person is married or a civil partner, specifically. These distinctions sound technical, but they matter: a claim that fails under one characteristic may succeed under another, which is exactly why staff training focuses on recognising the behaviour rather than memorising which box it falls into.

What are the four types of discrimination?

The Equality Act recognises four main types of unlawful discrimination. Knowing the differences is more useful day to day than reciting the nine characteristics, because most workplace problems are about how someone was treated.

• Direct discrimination. Treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic. Under section 13, this is where a person “because of a protected characteristic… treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat others”. Refusing to promote a woman because she is a woman is the textbook example.
• Indirect discrimination. Applying a policy, rule or practice that applies to everyone but puts people who share a particular characteristic at a disadvantage, and which cannot be objectively justified. Section 19 calls this a “provision, criterion or practice”. A requirement that all staff work full time, for instance, may indirectly disadvantage women, who are statistically more likely to have childcare responsibilities, unless the employer can show it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
• Harassment. Unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Under section 26, it is judged partly by the perception of the person affected and partly by whether it is reasonable for the conduct to have that effect.
• Victimisation. Treating someone badly because they have made, or supported, a complaint about discrimination. Under section 27, a “protected act” includes bringing a claim, giving evidence, or making an allegation of a breach of the Act. This protects the person who blows the whistle on discrimination, provided they act in good faith.

There is also a separate and important duty in relation to disability: the duty to make reasonable adjustments. Under section 20, where a disabled person is put at a substantial disadvantage, the employer or service provider must take reasonable steps to remove it — for example, by altering premises, providing equipment, or adjusting working patterns. Failing to make a reasonable adjustment is itself a form of unlawful discrimination. Acas publishes plain-English guidance on each of these types.

What is discrimination by association and by perception?

Two forms of protection surprise people because they extend the Act beyond the person who actually has the characteristic. Both flow from the careful wording of section 13, which refers to treating someone less favourably “because of a protected characteristic” — not because of their protected characteristic.

Discrimination by association is where someone is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic belonging to a person they are connected with. The classic example is a worker treated badly because they care for a disabled child: the worker is not disabled, but the discrimination is “because of” disability. The same logic covers someone sidelined because their partner is a particular race or religion.

Discrimination by perception is where someone is treated less favourably because others think they have a protected characteristic, whether or not they actually do. If a colleague is harassed because people assume he is gay, it is still unlawful even if he is not. The perception of the discriminator, not the reality, is what matters.

These two concepts close off a loophole that would otherwise swallow much of the Act, and they are a good illustration of why surface-level knowledge of the nine characteristics is not enough. The protection is about the reason for the treatment.

What changed on 26 October 2024?

A significant change took effect on 26 October 2024, when the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force. It inserted a new section 40A into the Equality Act, creating a positive legal duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment, rather than simply to respond to it after the event.

The wording is that “an employer (A) must take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of employees of A in the course of their employment”. This is a change of mindset as much as a change of law. Previously, an employer’s liability largely turned on how it handled complaints; now it is expected to anticipate where sexual harassment might occur — including harassment by third parties such as customers — and take proactive, reasonable steps to stop it happening in the first place. Where an employment tribunal finds that sexual harassment has occurred and the employer breached this preventative duty, it can increase the compensation awarded. The practical upshot is that risk assessments, clear policies, reporting routes and, crucially, staff training are no longer just good practice; they are evidence that an employer has taken the reasonable steps the law now requires. Our guide to sexual harassment in the workplace covers the new duty in more detail.

Where does the Equality Act apply across the UK?

The Equality Act 2010 applies in England, Scotland and Wales — that is, in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has its own, separate equality legislation, and some of the detail differs: notably, Northern Ireland protects political opinion and religious belief in ways that reflect its particular history. If your organisation operates across the whole of the UK, you cannot assume the Great Britain rules apply uniformly in Northern Ireland.

The Act also reaches well beyond employment. It covers the provision of goods, facilities and services, education, the exercise of public functions, and associations. A shop that refuses to serve someone because of their race, a school that disadvantages disabled pupils, or a landlord who discriminates against a tenant can all fall foul of it. For individuals wanting a plain overview of their rights, the government maintains a clear summary at GOV.UK, and Acas offers guidance aimed at both employers and workers. Because how the law applies depends on the specific facts, this article is general information and not legal advice.

How can employers and staff put this into practice?

Knowing the nine protected characteristics is the easy part. The harder, and more valuable, skill is recognising discrimination when it happens — which is rarely as obvious as an outright refusal and far more often a pattern, an off-hand comment, or a well-meaning policy that quietly disadvantages one group. The organisations that handle this well tend to share a few habits: everyone understands the four types of discrimination, not just the list of characteristics; managers know that association and perception are covered; policies are checked for indirect discrimination before they are rolled out; reasonable adjustments are made promptly and without fuss; and complaints are handled in a way that never punishes the person who raised them.

Training is what turns the legal framework into everyday behaviour. A member of staff who has been shown what indirect discrimination or harassment looks like is far more likely to spot a problem early, when it can still be fixed informally, than one who has only ever seen the characteristics as a poster on the wall. This matters for managers in particular, who make the day-to-day decisions — on recruitment, promotion, rotas and conduct — where discrimination most often creeps in. If you are responsible for people, our note on CPD requirements for HR professionals sets out how equality training fits into wider professional development, and our overview of what equality, diversity and inclusion means puts the law in its broader workplace context.

Train your team on the Equality Act and the nine characteristics

Nexis CPD’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Awareness course gives staff and managers a plain-English grounding in the Equality Act 2010, the nine protected characteristics and the four types of discrimination, and how to build a fair and inclusive workplace. It pairs well with our Unconscious Bias course, which tackles the hidden assumptions behind much unintentional discrimination, and our Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace course, which helps teams meet the new preventative duty on sexual harassment. Taken together, the three cover awareness, the biases that drive discrimination, and the behaviours the law expects you to prevent — and you can take all three as a bundle. You may also find our guide on whether bullying is illegal at work useful.

£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18. These are CPD-accredited awareness courses to support your organisation’s equality and inclusion programme, not Ofqual-regulated qualifications.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 9 protected characteristics?

The nine protected characteristics under section 4 of the Equality Act 2010 are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. It is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of any of these in employment, education, and the provision of goods and services across England, Scotland and Wales.

Is being a carer a protected characteristic?

No. Caring responsibilities are not a standalone protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. However, a carer may still be protected through discrimination “by association” — for example, if they are treated less favourably because they care for a disabled person — and refusing flexibility to parents can amount to indirect sex discrimination. So the protection often applies in practice, just not as a characteristic in its own right.

Does gender reassignment require surgery to be protected?

No. Under section 7 of the Equality Act 2010, a person is protected if they are proposing to undergo, are undergoing, or have undergone a process to reassign their sex. There is no requirement for any medical treatment, surgery, or a Gender Recognition Certificate. The process can be entirely social, and protection begins from the moment a person starts it.

Is marriage and civil partnership protected against harassment?

No. Marriage and civil partnership is protected against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and victimisation, but it is not listed among the “relevant protected characteristics” for harassment in section 26 of the Equality Act 2010. Pregnancy and maternity is also absent from that harassment list and is covered in that respect through its overlap with sex.

What are the four types of discrimination?

The four main types are direct discrimination (treating someone less favourably because of a protected characteristic), indirect discrimination (a policy that disadvantages a group and cannot be justified), harassment (unwanted conduct that violates dignity or creates a hostile environment), and victimisation (treating someone badly for complaining about discrimination). For disability there is also a separate duty to make reasonable adjustments under section 20.

Is political opinion a protected characteristic in the UK?

Not in Great Britain. Political opinion is not a standalone protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, although a genuinely held philosophical belief can be protected under “religion or belief” if it meets the legal test. Northern Ireland, which has separate equality legislation, does protect political opinion directly.

This article is general information about the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and is not legal advice. The Equality Act 2010 applies in England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has separate legislation. How the law applies depends on the specific facts, so for a particular situation consult a qualified adviser or a body such as Acas or the Equality and Human Rights Commission. These Nexis CPD courses are CPD-accredited awareness training, not Ofqual-regulated qualifications.