‘Urgent need’ to improve sex and reproductive health education, researchers warn

Schools take different approaches to reproductive health education, UCL professors have said, and students can be left with a “very patchy education” if teachers are not confident teaching the subject.

Researchers said many pupils are taught about sex and reproductive health by non-specialists in the subject, and teachers should be specifically trained to make sure it is high quality.

Professor Joyce Harper, of UCL’s EGA Institute for Women’s Health, said: “There is an urgent need to improve the quality of the education that pupils receive about sex and reproductive health to help them make informed choices about their reproductive health and fertility.

“England is one of the few countries worldwide that explicitly incorporates reproductive health into its curriculum, but different approaches are used in different schools, and this can give a very patchy education.”

“At the moment, because pupils are not getting the right education, too many people are only finding out that they are unable to have children when they start trying to have a baby years after leaving school,” she added.

The sex and relationships aspects of PSHE were made compulsory in secondary schools in 2020, and relationships education was made compulsory in primary schools in England at the same time.

Under the new guidance for RSHE published in 2025 – for first teaching from September 2026 – pupils should be taught the facts about reproductive health, including fertility and menopause.

The curriculum should also include education about menstrual and gynaecological health, including things like endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome.

However, these changes have not gone far enough, the researchers argue.

A study led by Professor Harper in August found the teaching in schools about periods was still too focused on basic biological facts, and did not provide enough information on the impact of menstruation on mood and wellbeing, as well as the potential impact on physical and academic performance.

Margaret Mulholland, Send and Inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Schools strive to deliver high-quality teaching in these subjects but do so within significant constraints in terms of funding, staffing, and time.

“We would like to see more action on the part of policymakers to support this provision and indeed RSHE in general.

“This is particularly important with regards to the statutory updates to the curriculum from September, with important additions such as endometriosis.

“Teachers need to feel confident to support discussions safely and with sensitivity and training is a vital part of this.”

Professor Michael Reiss, of UCL’s Institute of Education, said: “Successful education, on any topic, requires various factors to work together.

“ We need alignment between the curriculum, textbooks, support materials, pedagogy, student assessment, school inspection, initial teacher education, teacher professional development and funding.

“Teacher confidence to provide sexual and reproductive health education is higher in countries where training and resources are provided and where there is adequate time on the curriculum.

“At the moment, we know of no country where all these factors are well-aligned for the provision of reproductive health education.”