Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will add stem cell donation to the statutory guidance relating to Health Education for secondary school pupils.

The national curriculum includes substantial content which could be used by teachers as an opportunity to inform pupils about organ, stem cell and blood donation. Pupils are taught about the function of the heart, blood vessels and blood as part of Key Stage 2 science, and about stem cells as part of the Key Stage 4 science. The national curriculum is compulsory in state maintained schools, and is often used as a benchmark by academies.

In addition, the Government is proposing to introduce compulsory Health Education, alongside Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education, and is currently consulting on draft regulations and draft statutory guidance on the subjects. Under the topic of physical health and fitness, the draft guidance sets out that pupils should know the facts about wider issues such as organ and blood donation.

The consultation on the guidance closes on 7 November.