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It is now more than half a decade since became statutory in England. In this blog post, I explore what nationwide research reveals about how young people’s experiences of RSE have changed since then. It is overwhelmingly clear that while there is still room for improvement, significant and sustained progress has been made – and that many young people now have positive experiences of RSE.

The Sex Education Forum (SEF) has commissioned four since 2021. These have found that the percentage of 16-to-17-year-olds in England who describe their experience of RSE as ‘Good’ or ‘Very good’ increased from 35 per cent in 2021 to 52 per cent in 2025 (see figure 1). They have also found that the percentage of young people who describe their experience of RSE as ‘Bad’ or ‘Very bad’ reduced from 22 per cent to 8 per cent during this period, with just 1 in 50 (2 per cent) describing it as ‘Very bad’ in 2025 in comparison to one in seven (15 per cent) describing it as ‘Very good’.

Figure 1: Young people’s perceptions of RSE in their schools

Source:

‘While there is no room for complacency, [SEF’s most recent survey] paints a positive overall picture of how young people are currently experiencing RSE.’

In 2025, most young people agreed or strongly agreed they experienced RSE as relevant (69 per cent), inclusive (58 per cent), positive (64 per cent), safe (79 per cent), carefully sequenced (65 per cent) and skilfully taught (52 per cent), with adequate time dedicated to it (58 per cent). Reassuringly, very few strongly disagreed that it was relevant (2 per cent), inclusive (3 per cent), positive (2 per cent), safe (1 per cent), carefully sequenced (3 per cent) or skilfully taught (4 per cent). While there is no room for complacency, this paints a positive overall picture of how young people are currently experiencing RSE.

Importantly, school ranked first – ahead of online, friends and parents or carers – for sources of helpful information on several sex and relationships-related topics, including:

• understanding that sex and relationships should be enjoyable for all involved
• understanding that consent is needed for all types of sexual touch
• understanding that violence in relationships is always wrong
• being able to recognise what controlling behaviour is
• understanding the social pressures on boys and men.

This suggests that RSE is a trusted and potentially vital source of important information on a range of sensitive topics for many young people.

Furthermore, between and , there was an increase in the percentage of young people who agreed that ‘I learnt all I needed to’ about:

• sexual consent (+5 percentage points [pp]) and harassment (+10 pp)
• how to tell if a relationship is healthy (+17 pp) or abusive (+9 pp)
• how to get help if you are sexually abused or assaulted (+10 pp)
• feelings and emotions to do with relationships (+13 pp)
• power imbalances in relationships (+8 pp) and pornography (+7 pp).

Critically, there is also evidence to suggest that RSE is improving young people’s confidence. For instance, representative surveys of undergraduates in England have found that the percentage who agreed with the statement ‘The education I received before entering higher education helped prepare me for sex and relationships while studying in higher education’ .

Furthermore, the vast majority (90 per cent) believed that their school had effectively prepared them to develop healthy relationships, while over half (58 per cent) agreed that personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education – the curriculum subject that covers statutory RSE – should be taught until the age of 18.

Given that there is strong evidence to suggest that high-quality school-based RSE has the potential to and , it is critical that research into how it can continue to be improved is conducted. Future research should focus on topics such as:

• establishing a clearer understanding of how RSE can be made more inclusive, as
• evaluating training programmes that have the potential to significantly improve teacher expertise and confidence in teaching RSE, as this is
• developing place-based approaches to RSE.

While there is clearly a need to continue strengthening efforts to improve the quality of RSE, and to investigate young people’s experiences using in-depth qualitative research methods, I believe it is important to celebrate the rapid progress made in recent years and to contextualise calls for further research on this important topic within an empowering and hopeful narrative centred on sustaining the current trajectory and reducing inequalities in young people’s experiences. After all, the progress made so far provides clear evidence that positive change is possible.