Change the legal age of consent to intercourse to 18

To change the legal age of sexual consent to 18 instead of 16

Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk

Signatures

129

signatures

Government response threshold (10,000) · 129/10,000

Debate threshold (100,000) · 129/100,000

Background

Legally you are not classed as an adult until you are 18 - at 16 you cannot buy alcohol or tobacco, get a tattoo, serve on a jury, buy fireworks, get married without parental permission, have a credit card and/or buy lottery tickets and scratchcards and you are still a child and tried as a child if you break the law. Children do not have the mentality to be able to consent to have sexual intercourse or to have a child.