Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of prioritising issues of sexual consent in sexual health education.

The revised relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance was published on 15 July and sets out that secondary schools should cover the role of consent, including in romantic and sexual relationships. This includes the law about the age of consent, how to recognise, respect and communicate consent and boundaries in relationships, including in early romantic relationships in all contexts, including online. The guidance also makes the point that kindness and care for others requires more than just consent.

Curriculum content also includes that there are a range of strategies for identifying, resisting and understanding pressure in relationships from peers or others, including sexual pressure, and how to avoid putting pressure on others.