Relationships and Sex Education in Schools (England)

Section 34 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 requires regulations to be made for relationships and sex education to be taught in all schools in England. The legal requirement came into force on 1 September 2020.

Some key aspects are:

• All primary schools in England teach relationships education
• All secondary schools teach relationships and sex education
• Reformed statutory guidance for schools was produced
• The right of parents to withdraw their children from sex education was retained. Children approaching age 16 gained new rights to ‘opt-in’.
• Schools can be flexible in their approach. This includes faith schools being allowed to teach within the tenets of their faith

Regulations and guidance on relationships and sex education

The Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019 confirmed the legal changes. Statutory health education in schools was also introduced as part of the reforms.

Final statutory guidance on relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education was published by the Department for Education in June 2019.

The disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic meant that schools could delay the introduction of the new requirements until summer 2021, if they were not ready to begin teaching the revised subjects.

2023-24 review of guidance

In March 2023, the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced that the DfE would be conducting a review of RSE statutory guidance. This review followed concerns raised in the Commons by Miriam Cates MP (Con) about “age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate” material being taught in schools, following an investigation by the New Social Covenant Unit.

The Department for Education published draft revised guidance on RSE and health education on 16 May 2024.

The draft guidance proposes changes to the existing guidance, introducing age limits on the teaching of some issues, and prohibiting teaching about the concept of gender identity. The draft guidance also emphasises the right of parents to see materials used in teaching.

A consultation on the revised guidance was open until 11 July 2024. The new government have not yet published a response.

Ofsted’s review of sexual harassment and abuse in schools

In March 2021, the government asked Ofsted to immediately review safeguarding policies in state and independent schools in relation to sexual harassment and abuse.

The review was published in June 2021. It depicted “widespread” sexual harassment in schools, and made recommendations for action from schools, government, and Ofsted to address the problem.

These included a carefully sequenced relationships and sex education curriculum with time to discuss topics young people find particularly difficult, such as consent and the sending of ‘nudes’, and high-quality training for teachers.