New statutory guidance on RSHE

The Department for Education (DfE) has published updated statutory guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education (the Guidance). It only comes into force on 1 September 2026, meaning schools have a good amount of time to prepare for the changes.

The previous statutory guidance will remain in force until 2026, although schools are free to update their curriculum and approach to reflect the new requirements before then.   

Some basics

As readers will know, relationship and sex education is compulsory for all pupils receiving a secondary education (although parents have the right to request that their child is withdrawn from some or all of the programme – see below). Health education is compulsory in all maintained schools. Personal, social, health and economic education remains compulsory in independent schools – although the Guidance notes that independent schools may find the sections on health education helpful in planning.

Schools must continue to proactively consult and engage with parents in the development of the relationship, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum and must publish their relationship and sex education policy. It is good practice to publish the health education policy as well and we suspect that many schools will want to incorporate this into the RSE policy.

Why new guidance now?

The DfE has explained that the updated Guidance is principally designed to address the growing online risks that children are facing today. This includes exposure to harmful content including misogynistic attitudes and unhealthy views about relationships. The Guidance aims to “help teachers navigate these changes and support children to develop positive attitudes”.

What’s new?

There are a number of substantive changes in the Guidance. We have summarised some of the more significant ones below. However, this is far from exhaustive, and it is vital that governing bodies, senior leaders and relevant teachers take time to carefully read the new Guidance in full.

Seven guiding principles for the curriculum

The Guidance introduces seven “guiding principles” for developing a school curriculum on RSHE.   

1. Engagement with pupils.

This aligns with the increasing focus we have seen from the DfE and the inspection bodies on facilitating and responding to pupil voice to ensure schools are responsive to student needs and the reality of their lives.

2. Engagement with parents.

Schools are required to proactively consult with parents on the content of the curriculum and be transparent about the materials used. See further below under “openness with parents”.

3. Positivity.

Schools should focus on building positive attitudes and skills, promoting healthy norms about relationships and avoiding language that might normalise harmful behaviour. Supporting children to recognise and develop healthy attitudes towards themselves and each other is a general theme throughout the Guidance.

4. Careful sequencing.

This flags the role of the RSHE curriculum to prevent harms and requires schools to ensure that pupils are supported and equipped with the knowledge to navigate different experiences positively before they occur.

5. Relevant and responsive.

The curriculum should be age-appropriate, dynamic and responsive to emerging risks and issues, whether specific to the school’s locality or more generally. This aligns with what appears to be a growing expectation that schools are aware of and respond promptly to developments and cultural issues impacting young people.

6. Skilled delivery.

The curriculum should be delivered by staff or external providers with the appropriate knowledge, skills and confidence to create a safe and supportive environment. The Guidance is clear that “schools always remain responsible for the content and the way in which children are taught” and “schools should check that external resources are accurate, age and stage appropriate and unbiased”. Schools will be aware of their responsibilities to ensure that political issues are taught impartially and of the related government guidance on this (also see our blog on this issue).

Staff should recognise the increased possibility of safeguarding disclosures made after RSHE sessions. If a session will be delivered by an external party, the school will need to ensure they understand their safeguarding obligations under the school’s policy. There is further information on this at paragraphs 84 – 86 of the Guidance.

7. Whole school approach

The DfE talks about a whole school approach to “wellbeing and positive relationships” and expects school policies to support this. The school should therefore consider whether any other policies or activities within the school should be updated in light of this new Guidance – for example, its wider curriculum offering; online safety, smartphone, behaviour, and safeguarding policies; assembly programme; visiting speakers; or other initiatives or events undertaken by the wider school community.

Online safety and technology

Many of the updates relate to addressing online risks.

To draw out a few themes: pupils should be taught about the difference between public and private online spaces; they should understand that material published online cannot be controlled once it is circulated, and that online content can glamorise behaviours which are unhealthy and wrong.

There is also a focus on AI. The explosion of generative AI has brought opportunities and risks that schools should be making pupils aware of. Teaching on AI should include:

• the fact that some social media accounts are fake and have been created with AI;
• the fact that using AI to generate youth produced sexual imagery is still a crime;
• the prevalence of deepfakes, including how they can be used for entertainment and maliciously; the harms this can cause and how to identify deepfakes; and
• the risks posed by AI chatbots, such as creating fake intimacy or offering harmful advice.

We know many schools are already managing incidents involving the creation and sharing of explicit AI generated images. Many pupils are unaware of the criminal risks related to this behaviour and the significant harm that can result. Schools may wish to refer young people to Sexual Offences involving children and young people: A guide. This resource was produced by the Wellbeing Hub in conjunction with Farrer & Co’s David Smellie and is intended to educate and empower young people to protect themselves and others from sexual harm including youth produced sexual imagery.  

As schools will know from the latest iterations of KCSIE, filtering and monitoring remains key, and schools must ensure their systems are fit for purpose and protect students from seeing harmful or inappropriate content on school systems.

Adult content and misogyny

The Guidance requires enhanced curriculum content (at secondary level) on sexually explicit online content. Pupils should be taught how such content can negatively influence attitudes and behaviours, disempower women, and present abnormal activities as normal.

Linked to this, there is an increased focus on misogyny. Pupils should be taught how to recognise misogyny and understand the link between misogyny and violence against women and girls. Pupils should be given the opportunity to discuss “sub-cultures” of involuntary celibates and online influencers, and be supported to understand the importance of challenging harmful beliefs. Where attitudes are expressed, the Guidance recommends that teachers should challenge the belief itself rather than the pupil. Such instances may of course also engage the school’s behaviour and/or safeguarding policies and will need careful management.

Openness with parents

Schools must continue to consult with parents when developing, updating or reviewing their RSE policies and may wish to invite parents to school to discuss the content. As stated above, the RSE policy should be available online and it is good practice to set out some of the details about how health education will be taught.  

All curriculum materials should be made available to parents on request, including materials from external providers. Schools should “respond positively to requests” from parents to see material, but the Guidance is clear that parents do not have a veto over the curriculum content. Schools should remember that they “have significant freedom to implement this guidance in the context of a broad and balanced curriculum.”

We have seen a number of parental complaints about the content of RSE materials and the use of certain external providers. Being open and proactive about what will be taught and by whom in advance can help flush out and address concerns early.

As previously, parents are entitled to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE. Before granting or refusing a request, the Guidance recommends that the head engages in discussion with the parents and potentially the child (where appropriate) to understand their concerns, discuss the benefits of the education and the detriments of withdrawal, and make clear that the pupil is likely to hear accounts of the classes from peers, which may be incomplete or inaccurate. Schools are encouraged to keep accurate records of any such conversations and decisions around withdrawal.

For primary school pupils, the head must automatically grant any such request (providing it does not include withdrawal from the science curriculum). For secondary school pupils, the head can only refuse a request in exceptional circumstances, for example where there are safeguarding concerns or the pupil has a specific vulnerability. From three terms before the pupil turns 16 years old, a pupil can choose to opt back in to sex education (and they and their parents should be made aware of this option).

Other notable changes

Legal issues

Pupils should be taught about their rights and responsibilities as citizens. The Guidance expands the list of topics that pupils should be taught to include the Online Safety Act, the age of criminal responsibility and “Gillick” competence. Schools may want to consider bringing in external partners to deliver this content or provide relevant teaching staff with training. 

Gender identity

While schools should teach the facts and law about biological sex and gender reassignment, schools should be mindful that “there is significant debate” and staff should not “endorse a particular view or teach it as fact. For example, they should not teach as fact that all people have a gender identity”. Schools should also “be mindful to avoid any suggestion that social transition is a simple solution to feelings of distress or discomfort”. The Guidance notes that young people should be encouraged to share their views on this topic respectfully.

The Guidance cautions against use of external material on this topic that “perpetuates stereotypes or encourages people to question their gender” or resources from organisations “that have a strong partisan view on the contested topic”. We are expecting further guidance from the DfE in the Summer of 2025 on Gender Questioning Children, which will, no doubt, expand on these issues and how they should be managed in schools.

Vaping

Vaping is a new addition to the Guidance. From primary level, pupils should be taught the facts about vaping and the risks of nicotine addiction. At secondary level, this should be repeated, including the harms to young people and the role vapes can play in helping adult smokers quit.

Resources

Annex B includes an updated list of resources to complement classroom teaching, which are limited to those funded by the Government. Schools can of course use other resources, and the benefits of external expertise and experience can be significant in this area. However, schools should conduct appropriate due diligence before doing so to ensure suitability and quality.

Five steps for schools to take before September 2026

1. Audit your policies and curriculum. Do they cover all of the new aspects recommended in the Guidance and at the correct stages? It is important to consider all the relevant policies that could be impacted, not just your RSE and health education policy (if the health education policy is separate). Consider whether you are relying on resources from providers that have been removed from the Guidance; you should question whether it is appropriate to continue to use them.
2. Consider if your school needs to go further than the Guidance states in certain areas, depending on the specific issues and challenges facing your student body. The Guidance states that schools may want to teach some content outside of the curriculum, and gives the specific examples of eating disorders and suicide prevention.
3. Consult in good time with parents on any proposed changes and engage with students too. Schools should maintain an open dialogue with parents and try to assuage any concerns raised in a positive and constructive manner. Also think through how your student body can input into the content of the curriculum, so it is relevant and tailored to their needs/concerns. Conducting a pupil survey on the content and delivery of RSHE lessons may prove helpful and will provide evidence to inspectors of engaging with and listening to pupils.
4. Consider where you might be able to teach other aspects of RSHE in the curriculum other than dedicated PSHE classes to help embed a “whole school approach”. For example, the Guidance notes that teaching about misogyny could be incorporated into the history curriculum.
5. Assess whether your teaching staff have sufficient knowledge and skills to confidently teach the new elements of the curriculum including the confidence to handle tricky questions from pupils. Do you need to upskill your staff or identify appropriate external providers?

Veryan Exelby is Senior Counsel and Sophia Coles is a Senior Associate at Farrer & Co. With thanks to Alex Evans, current trainee in the team, for his help preparing this article.