One of the country’s leading private schools is planning to bring in mix-and-match “gender neutral” uniforms that would allow boys to wear skirts.

The move by Highgate School in north London comes as head teachers warn that they are struggling to deal with growing numbers of children questioning their identity as boys or girls.

Equality groups set up by pupils are pushing for gender-neutral lavatories, for teachers to use gender-neutral pronouns such as “they”, for all sports to be open to all pupils and for a ban on words and phrases such as “ladylike” and “man up”.

Critics warn that the rush to introduce ill-thought-out gender-neutral policies risked encouraging “copycat” behaviour among children, fuelled by social media and the internet.

Figures show a surge in