Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of schools (a) educating pupils on organ donation and (b) using resources produced by NHS Blood and Transplant.

Schools have flexibility over how they deliver the curriculum and cover important topics within it in a way that works for their context and communities. The department does not have data on how and whether schools are teaching about organ donation, but there are plenty of opportunities within the national curriculum for them to do so.

The teaching of blood, tissue and organs is covered in the biology national curriculum to pupils in England between the ages of 11 and 14 in key stage 3. While organ donation is not specifically mentioned in the national curriculum, schools may choose to cover it here.

At primary level, schools can talk about organ donation more generally in an age-appropriate way as part of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, which includes content on physical health and mental wellbeing. The Oak National Academy, an arm's length public body responsible for creating free curriculum resources, has produced a lesson that can be taught to pupils between the ages of 7 and 11 in key stage 2. This includes a section on organs, the transplant waiting list and relevant legislation.

Organ donation can be covered in more detail in RSHE for pupils aged 14 to 16 in key stage 4 within the context of healthy lifestyles and the choices that individuals make in adulthood.

Departmental officials are working with NHS Blood and Transplant to arrange to signpost schools to education resources on organ donation developed by NHS Blood and Transplant and its charity partners.