The Educator Magazine U.K. May-August 2026 issue. - Magazine - Page 36
Train teachers to deliver sex
and reproductive health lessons
Reproductive health education needs a radical overhaul, with appropriately
trained teachers providing the education the pupils say they need, UCL researchers
In most schools in England, sex and
reproductive health education is taught
by form tutors and this can give a very
patchy education for those students,
depending on whether the teachers
feel comfortable teaching the subject,
the researchers say.
Within schools, we need teachers to
be specialists in these subjects, so
those lessons are taught effectively.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic
(PSHE) education have been compulsory
in English primary and secondary schools
since 2020, and in 2025 it was updated
to include topics such as endometriosis,
polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and
heavy menstrual bleeding. Sex education
is also compulsory in Welsh schools.
But in a new article, published in Health
Education Journal, the researchers say
these changes have not gone far enough,
and argue that improving sex and
reproductive health education requires
not only curriculum updates but a more
systematic approach - ensuring alignment
between teaching resources, training and
delivery.
In support of this, they say recent surveys
have shown that teenagers still know
very little about reproductive health
and fertility when they leave school,
meaning conditions such as difficult
periods and endometriosis may be
overlooked, leaving them unable to make
informed choices about starting a family.
In some schools, PHSE teachers lead
on giving the sex and reproductive
lessons. In schools where that is done by
form tutors, the researchers are calling for
them to be given additional support to
enhance the quality of lessons.
The UCL team have been working
on developing teachers’ resources to
provide this support both through their
work with the International Reproductive
Health Education Collaboration and the
charity Wellbeing of Women.
Lead author Professor Joyce Harper (UCL
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.
“Through our various research projects,
our international Reproductive Health
Education Collaboration has developed
free resources which are available to
teachers, and we are evaluating with
teachers as to the best way to use those
resources in the classroom.
“We are also working with charity
Wellbeing of Women to develop lessons
plans on some of these topics which will
be free for teachers to use.
“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.”
In August, a separate study led by
Professor Harper found that teaching
about periods in schools was still too
focused on basic biological facts with
insufficient information around how
menstruation can affect a woman’s
mood and well-being, problems
associated with menstrual bleeding
and the impact on physical and
academic performance.
And in 2024, another study led by
Professor Harper which surveyed
schoolchildren in England found
that almost half (45 per cent) said
that they had concerns about future
parenthood – expressing their fears
about their ability to have healthy
offspring and the lives their children
might lead.
Corresponding author Professor
Michael Reiss (UCL 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.”
The researchers say studies they
have conducted in other
countries including Belgium and
Japan have reached similar findings.
