Asked by: Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour (Co-op) - Bathgate and Linlithgow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide (a) support and (b) resources to schools to help them deliver the revised Relationships and sex education and health education guidance, published on 15 July 2025, in an (i) evidence-based and (ii) age-appropriate manner.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The statutory guidance is clear that schools are accountable for what they teach and should ensure that all relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) content is factual, age-appropriate and suitable for their pupils.
The government has commissioned Oak National Academy (Oak) to make lesson materials freely available. Oak is an independent arm’s length body that provides free, optional and adaptable curriculum and teaching resources to schools. As part of its RSHE curriculum resources, Oak has recently published new online safety lessons, covering topics such as misogyny, the prevalence of deepfakes, and reporting unsuitable content, amongst many others. Oak will publish its full RSHE curriculum resources from autumn 2025.
To further support teachers with taking on these important topics, we will be piloting a teacher training grant, starting early 2026.
Asked by: Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour (Co-op) - Bathgate and Linlithgow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data her Department holds on the (a) impact of and (b) implementation of the inclusion of menstrual wellbeing education in the curriculum since September 2020.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The department does not hold any data on these specific issues. It is for individual schools to deliver the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, using the statutory guidance which came into force in September 2020.
In July 2025 we updated the RSHE statutory guidance with regard to menstrual and gynaecological health, to include specific examples of period problems, including pre-menstrual syndrome, heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, and to ensure pupils understand when to seek help from healthcare professionals. The new curriculum comes into force from September 2026. The updated statutory guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.