Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to amend guidance on personal, social, health and economic education in schools to promote discussion and awareness of organ, blood and stem cell donation.

The national curriculum includes substantial content which can be used by teachers as an opportunity to inform pupils about organ, stem cell and blood donation. For example, 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 key stage 4 science.

Alongside the national curriculum, stem cell donation can be taught as part of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and as part of compulsory Health Education, as pupils should know the facts about organ and blood donation.

To support schools further, the teacher training module ‘physical health and fitness’ also includes information on blood, organ and stem cell donation. A link to this module can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-physical-health-and-fitness.

As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how and when they deliver these topical subjects and can respond according to pupil needs.

The department has been reviewing the RSE and Health Education guidance and aims to launch a public consultation very soon. Following the consultation, the department will make a decision about any new or revised content to be included in the statutory guidance, including additional content. The department anticipates that the revised guidance will be published in 2024.