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UK Gender Recognition Certificates Hit Record High After Supreme Court Definition of Sex

Low-cost online applications have driven a record surge in certificates this year; regulators are now questioning their legal standing following a Supreme Court definition of sex.

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Trans rights activists protest against the Supreme Court ruling in London in April

Overview

  • Annual certificates soared to 1,169 in the year to March 2025, more than triple the count in 2019/20.
  • GRC applications climbed to a record 1,517 in 2024/25 after the cost was slashed to £5 in 2021 and the process moved online in 2022.
  • Recent recipients have skewed younger, with 83% born after 1980 and nearly a quarter born since 2000.
  • The Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that "woman" and "sex" under the Equality Act refer to biological characteristics, allowing trans women to be proportionately excluded from single-sex spaces.
  • Baroness Kishwer Falkner of the EHRC has signaled potential legal challenges to the certificates' efficacy; however government guidance confirms the ruling does not alter the application process.