Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending relationship education beyond the Relationship and Sex Education curriculum.

The subjects of relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education (RSHE) became mandatory from September 2020. They complement several other curriculum subjects, including science, computing, citizenship, and physical education. Schools are encouraged to look for opportunities to draw links between their curriculum subjects and integrate RSHE teaching where appropriate.

The department has plans in place to monitor national implementation of RSHE over time, including through new quantitative and qualitative research. This will seek to understand the quality of implementation, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. The findings from this research will inform a review of the statutory guidance in due course.