Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to make Relationship and Sex Education mandatory in post-16 education settings.

The department recognises the importance of promoting healthy relationships to young people. This is why relationships and sex education (RSE) is a standard element of the personal development tutorial system in further education.

These regular tutorials allow students to hear about and discuss subjects important to their lives as responsible, active citizens, such as British values, resilience and how to navigate the world of work.

Education in healthy relationships is at the core of each college’s programme. Students participate in debates about respect, consent, misogyny, gender stereotyping, coercive control, sexual violence and sexual health, and consider the impact of negative behaviours.

Ofsted’s personal development judgement evaluates a college’s intent to provide for the personal development of learners, and the quality of the way in which it does this. Education in healthy relationships is one of the areas of focus.

The department has engaged an expert college leader, Polly Harrow, to develop a toolkit for colleges to drive the quality and consistency of RSE. The toolkit, to be launched in November, will provide tutorial materials and delivery advice, giving all colleges the skills and confidence to deliver on personal development effectively, and to tackle misogyny head on.