Long-awaited sex ed guidance removes age limits for sex education

The Department for Education’s long-awaited statutory guidance on Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) has been criticised for removing the minimum age limit for teaching sex education.

The previous Government’s draft guidance last year stated that primary school children could not be taught about sex before age nine, while under-13s were not to be taught about explicit sexual acts.

The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the change, claiming schools may sometimes need “to broach a topic a little bit sooner”, but said parents would be consulted when this occurs.

Overhaul

The change is part of a series of amendments to RSHE policy, with the new rules becoming statutory from September 2026. Existing guidance from 2019 will be in force until then, but schools and colleges in England have to begin consulting on new policies that align with the new version.

The previous Government had consulted on how to replace the flawed 2019 version. Its 2024 draft guidance would have required schools not to teach about gender identity, introduced minimum age limits for sensitive material, and given greater rights to parents who wish to see teaching materials.

However, the draft was not finalised before last year’s General Election, and has now been scrapped and replaced by the new guidance.

Parental input and oversight

The new policy has been accused of “muddying the waters” following numerous changes, which are an improvement in some areas but less clear in others.

Among the positive changes, is an amendment to better encourage schools to listen to the views of parents, as well as pupils, on RSHE.

It acknowledges that schools “may need to include new content in RSHE to respond to emerging needs or issues in the school”, but stated that in such situations, schools “should be careful to inform parents of any shifts away from the policy”.

‘Void and unenforceable’

It is also now explicitly clear that “all” teaching materials for sex education lessons “should be available to parents”, including external resources.

Previously, some schools have refused to allow parents access to materials, citing copyright issues, with providers claiming to be fearful that their content would be plagiarised.

But the new guidance also states that where contracts exist that would prevent parents from accessing “any material at all”, these contracts are “void and unenforceable”. This is because “they contradict the clear public policy interest of ensuring that parents are aware of what their children are being taught in sex and relationships education”.

Significantly, it also stated that schools should remind external groups providing teaching materials that schools are “legally obliged” to have regard to the guidance.

LGBT relationships

It is also clear in warning that: “Where schools decide to use external resources, they should avoid materials that use cartoons or diagrams that oversimplify this topic, that could be interpreted as being aimed at younger children, or that perpetuate stereotypes or encourage pupils to question their gender.”

While this is welcome, the new guidance does contain some concerning updates regarding LGBT content. Previous wording had stated: “Primary schools have discretion over whether to discuss sexual orientation or families with same-sex parents”.

But this has been replaced by: “We strongly encourage primary schools to teach about healthy loving relationships, and to include same-sex parents along with other family arrangements when discussing families”.

When giving factual teaching about sexual health and sexually transmitted infections, the new guidance says schools should make sure the content is suitable for “those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or gender questioning”.

Gender identity

The previous Government’s drafting stated: “Schools should not teach about the broader concept of gender identity”, but this has been removed, though it does say schools should not teach that everyone has a gender identity.

This new version instead states that in teaching on transgender issues, “schools should be mindful that beyond the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment there is significant debate, and they should be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact”.

Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of The Christian Institute, said: “The new guidance contains vital new rights for parents to see sex education material, finally doing away with secret sex education lessons. But muddying the waters around teaching on gender identity is the last thing we need right now.”