PSHE Changes (Statutory RSE and Health Education)
Relationships and Sex Education (Secondary): The 2025 guidance (draft and final) significantly expands secondary RSE content compared to the older 2019 guidance. Both versions introduce a range of new topics and greater depth to address contemporary issues
Relationships and Sex Education (Secondary): The 2025 guidance (draft and final) significantly expands secondary RSE content compared to the older 2019 guidance. Both versions introduce a range of new topics and greater depth to address contemporary issues.
In summary, the secondary RSE curriculum in 2025’s final guidance is broader and more detailed, but largely in line with the draft’s proposed expansions. The key differences are that the final explicitly names certain issues (e.g. incel culture, choking) and frames the teaching in a slightly more open way (since the final removed the requirement of strict age brackets, schools have latitude to introduce these topics as and when appropriate in secondary). The focus on challenging misogyny, addressing online harms (AI, deepfakes, porn-fuelled behaviours), and fostering ethical, respectful relationships represents a significant evolution of the curriculum from the previous statutory guidance.
The final guidance preserved most of the draft’s proposed new content, with a few adjustments in emphasis:
Misogyny and Incel Culture: A major addition is teaching pupils about misogynistic attitudes and the influence of toxic subcultures. The draft introduced content on understanding and challenging misogyny (e.g. recognizing how misogynistic online influencers can normalize sexual harassment). The final guidance keeps this and goes further by explicitly naming “so-called ‘involuntary celibates’ (incels)” as an example of a harmful sub-culture influencing sexual ethics. This was a change in tone — the draft referred more generally to “misogynistic influencers”, whereas the final specifically uses the term incels to ensure schools address that phenomenon. Pupils are now expected to discuss how certain online groups or influencers endorse unhealthy sexual norms and how to critically challenge those ideas
The guidance also includes dedicated content to help boys identify positive male role models. For example, secondary RSE now explicitly teaches how to “identify and learn from positive male role models” and makes clear that most boys and young men are respectful (combating the notion that misogynistic behaviour is normal). This focus on positive masculinity and anti-misogyny is a new addition in 2025, retained from the draft into the final.
Consent and Sexual Ethics Beyond “Just Yes/No”: The draft and final guidance both broaden the discussion of consent. In addition to the basic legal and practical understanding of consent, the final guidance stresses ethical behaviour in relationships goes “beyond consent”. Students are taught that a mere “yes” is not sufficient if coercion or pressure is involved – true respect involves kindness, care, and mutual agreement. The final explicitly states that strong relationships require more than just respecting boundaries and consent, highlighting qualities like empathy and communication. One example in the final content: pupils learn that an individual can withdraw consent at any time, “even if initially given,” and discuss factors like peer pressure that might complicate a person’s ability to give free consent. This nuance was introduced in the draft and kept in final, but the final guidance uses clearer language about ethical expectations (using that phrase “ethical behaviour… involves kindness and care” in teaching materials) to reinforce that idea.
Online Safety, Pornography and Emerging Technologies: Both draft and final updates put much stronger emphasis on digital risks in RSE. Students will learn about the impact of pornography on attitudes and relationships – the final guidance warns that pornography can “normalise harmful sexual behaviours” and distort expectations. It also connects porn to misogyny, helping pupils understand how consuming certain content can fuel disrespect or entitlement. New and emerging online threats are explicitly included: for example, AI-generated explicit images and deepfakes are covered. By the end of secondary, pupils should know “the prevalence of deepfakes… the harms they can cause and how to identify them”.
Likewise, the guidance adds “sextortion” to the curriculum – teens are taught about online sexual exploitation schemes (like coercion to send images) and the laws around them. These topics were proposed in the draft and confirmed in the final, reflecting a recognition of rapidly evolving online dangers. The final guidance also specifically mentions illegal online behaviors like sharing intimate images without consent, “upskirting,” and online sexual harassment, ensuring students understand the legal consequences and how to report issues. All these inclusions mark a substantial update from the pre-2025 curriculum, driven by concerns of what teens encounter on the internet.
Violence and Personal Safety: The updated secondary RSE content is more direct about forms of sexual violence and prevention. The final guidance retains the draft’s new content on topics like sexual assault, rape, domestic abuse, stalking, FGM, “virginity testing” and hymenoplasty (the latter practices now illegal). One notable addition is teaching about the danger of strangulation or choking in sexual contexts – the final explicitly states that any act of applying pressure to someone’s neck is an offense and not to be portrayed as normal or harmless. This appears to be a refinement added (likely in response to consultation feedback) to address a worrying trend linked to violent pornography. The draft did not explicitly mention choking, so this may be a new inclusion in the final. Additionally, both versions introduced content on “sexual ethics” – encouraging discussion on issues like respect, integrity and honesty in relationships beyond just the legal minimum. This ties in with the consent discussions mentioned above.