Relationships and Sex Education in Schools (England)
This House of Commons Library briefing provides an overview of the current rules and recent reforms to relationships and sex education in English schools.
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
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.
Review and revised guidance – from September 2026In March 2023, the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced that the DfE would be conducting a review of RSE statutory guidance. The DfE published draft revised guidance on RSE and health education on 16 May 2024.
The Labour government published a response to the consultation, and revised guidance, in July 2025. The new statutory guidance will come into effect from 1 September 2026.
The announcement of the new guidance highlighted an increased focus on challenging misogyny, as well as additional content on sexual ethics, staying safe in public spaces, and financial exploitation.
Violence against Women and Girls StrategyThe government published its Violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy in December 2025.
The strategy included several education-related measures, including for every state funded secondary school in England to have “a credible offer” for educating students about healthy and respectful relationships by 2029.
Ofsted’s review of sexual harassment and abuse in schoolsIn 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.