Ministers have bowed to pressure from sex education organisations and added lessons on sexual health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDS, into the new science curriculum for key stage 4.
However, experts have warned that these will only be effective if they continue on from high-quality sex and relationships education (SRE) earlier in children’s education.
In an amendment to the GCSE curriculum, the Department for Education (DfE) said that the changes to what pupils were taught supported the government’s ambition “to build knowledge and resilience about sexual health among young people”.
It adds: “It is important that young people are taught all aspects of sex education.”
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