What the 2026 guidance changes for secondary RSE

Open your Key Stage 3 scheme at the first relationships unit and check what pupils actually covered in primary. This year’s Year 7 finished primary before the revised guidance applied. It expects secondary RSE to “provide a clear progression from primary relationships education” (paragraph 32, printed page 11). Start from what this cohort knows.

The DfE’s revised RSHE statutory guidance, published in July 2025, came into effect in England on 1 September 2026. Schools “must have regard to the guidance”, and need good reasons to depart from the parts saying they should or should not do something (paragraph 5, printed page 3). The secondary tables open by asking schools to “continue to develop knowledge of topics specified for primary as required”, so the primary content is your floor (printed page 13).

Misogyny is now in the curriculum content, not only the culture

The respectful relationships table asks that pupils “be equipped to recognise misogyny and other forms of prejudice”, and gives them an opportunity to discuss “the sexual norms endorsed by so-called ‘involuntary celibates’ (incels) or online influencers” (printed page 14). In 2019 that table listed stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability; misogyny appeared only in the section on school culture, where schools “should be alive to issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia and gender stereotypes” (2019, pages 14 and 28). The DfE’s consultation response says the curriculum “will teach young people about the influence of incel culture” (page 24).

Consent moved as well. Pupils should understand “that ethical behaviour goes beyond consent and involves kindness, care, attention to the needs and vulnerabilities of the other person, as well as an awareness of power dynamics” (printed page 14). If your consent teaching still ends at a definition, that’s the line to plan against.

Teaching it without amplifying it

Paragraph 81 asks teachers to encourage pupils to consider how this content may be harmful to men and women “while avoiding stigmatising or perpetuating harmful stereotypes about boys, and avoiding directly signposting to specific content and content producers” (printed page 38). Paragraph 80 adds that where misogynistic ideas are expressed at school, “staff should challenge the ideas, rather than the person expressing them”.

The guidance points to distancing techniques, ground rules set with the class and question boxes for anonymous questions (paragraph 36, printed page 12). Give the teacher the likely answers as well as the prompt. Pupils can take part without describing anything that happened to them, and the guidance asks that they know in advance how confidentiality works and what a report might lead to (paragraph 85).

Images, deepfakes and sextortion

The online safety content is where the gap between 2019 and now is widest. Pupils should understand that keeping or forwarding indecent or sexual images of someone under 18 is a crime, “even if the photo is of themselves or of someone who has consented, and even if the image was created by the child and/or using AI generated imagery”, that they “will not be in trouble for asking for help, either at school or with the police, if an image of themselves has been shared”, and that sharing indecent images of people over 18 without consent is also a crime (printed page 15). Deepfakes get their own line, and sextortion is named in the online scams row (printed pages 15 to 16). The 2019 table covered sharing and viewing indecent images of children and the severe penalties, with nothing on AI-generated imagery, deepfakes or sextortion (2019, page 28).

Being safe has grown too: strangulation and suffocation, financial sexual exploitation and personal safety in public spaces were all added (printed pages 17 to 18; consultation response, page 24). Check who teaches these and what support sits behind the lesson. Our post on nudes, sextortion and deepfakes covers the classroom side.

Everyone in the room, and knowing whether it landed

Teaching “should be developed to ensure these subjects are accessible for pupils with SEND”, who “may be more vulnerable than their peers to harmful sexual behaviour, sexual abuse, exploitation and violence” (paragraphs 75 and 76, printed page 37). Same-sex relationships content should be integrated “rather than delivered as a standalone unit or lesson” (paragraph 68). Separating a class by sex is allowed where a school identifies a specific need, done without stigmatising boys or implying girls will inevitably be victims (paragraph 83).

Assessment is now covered within curriculum design. Paragraph 50 asks for “regular feedback provided on pupil progress” and assessments to “identify where pupils need extra support or intervention” (printed pages 32 to 33). Both expectations already appear in 2019 paragraphs 123 and 124. The separate assessment section, including its suggested tests, written assignments and self-evaluations, has gone (2019, page 43).

One last check for your policy: withdrawal concerns sex education within RSE. Parents cannot withdraw pupils from relationships or health education, or science topics related to puberty or sexual reproduction (paragraph 21). Secondary head teachers “can refuse a request in exceptional circumstances”, and from three terms before a pupil turns 16 that pupil can opt back into sex education even if a parent has withdrawn them. Schools should make sure pupils know that (paragraphs 18 and 19, printed page 6).

If you want help with your secondary programme, talk to us about RSE for secondary schools.

Trusted resources

• DfE publication page and commencement date.
• RSHE statutory guidance, July 2025.
• DfE consultation response, July 2025.
• RSHE statutory guidance 2019, superseded.
• Report Remove, Childline and the IWF, a route for under-18s to report a sexual image of themselves for assessment.