Watch as Rishi Sunak faced Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, 15 May, as age limits are set to be imposed for the first time on when children can be taught about sex education.
According to a report in the Times, schools will be told not to teach children any form of sex education until year 5, when pupils are aged nine.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan is also set to announce measures preventing children from being taught they can change their gender identity, and rules out any explicit conversations about sex until they are aged 13, the newspaper said.
Lessons about contraception, sexually transmitted infections, and abortion would also not be taught until this age.
The new proposals would not make “that much of a difference,” an education expert told the BBC.
Rebecca Leek, head of the Suffolk Primary Headteachers’ Association, told Radio 4’s Today programme that sex education is usually not taught in schools until pupils are in year six and parents are able to withdraw their children if they want to.
Existing guidance says primary school-aged children should be taught about different types of families and healthy relationships, while those in secondary school should be taught more complex topics such as puberty, sexual relationships, consent, unsafe relationships, and online harms.
