Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to require academy schools to have a curriculum which includes personal, social and health education.

Academies are currently encouraged to teach personal, social, health and economic Education (PSHE) as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

The Children and Social Work Act 2017 places a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to make relationships education mandatory in all primary schools and relationships and sex education mandatory in all secondary schools, through regulations. The Act also provides powers to make PSHE, or elements therein, mandatory in all schools (including academies) subject to further consideration.

The Department is conducting thorough and wide-ranging engagement with stakeholders, in order to reach an evidence based decision on PSHE and determine the content of regulations and statutory guidance. The Department is currently seeking views on these subjects from parents, teachers, young people and other interested parties through our call for evidence, which closes on Monday 12 February. This can be found at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/life-skills/pshe-rse-call-for-evidence/.

The Department will consult on draft regulations and guidance. This regulation will then be brought to the House. The Department is working towards schools teaching the new subjects from September 2019.