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Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) requirements: updated for September 2026

Understand the new requirements for primary and secondary schools, which will be statutory from September 2026. Find out what you're expected to cover and what you need to share with parents/carers.

Last reviewed on 18 July 2025
•Ref: 52000
Contents
  1. Your requirements
  2. Share the curriculum and resources with parents and carers 
  3. Pupils can be withdrawn from sex education
  4. Expectations for what pupils should know 
  5. How Ofsted will inspect RSE 
  6. Faith schools

The DfE has updated the statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance:

  • You must follow the new guidance from September 2026, but you can begin implementing it earlier if you wish (this is laid out on page 4 of the DfE's consultation outcome, and was confirmed to us by a DfE representative)
  • The old RSHE guidance is still in force, and you can choose to follow it until 31 August 2026. Find out the requirements of the old RSE guidance here 

This article sets out the requirements of the new guidance.

You can see a summary of the headline changes to the guidance here.

Your requirements

All schools with a secondary phase (including all-through and middle schools) need to provide:

  • Relationships and sex education (RSE)
  • Health education

This is set out on page 2 the DfE's new RSHE guidance.

You must have an RSE policy in place and you