4 key changes to the RSHE guidance

In this blog, Rebecca Cant, Brook’s Product Development Manager, talks about her key takeaways from the new RSHE guidance and what that means if you deliver Relationships and Sex Education.

The new RSHE guidance was published in July this year, replacing the previous version from 2019. Whether you’ve already begun planning for implementation or are just starting to think about it, there’s good news: the deadline for implementing the new guidance is 1^st September 2026, giving you the rest of this school year to prepare.

Note – You may remember seeing draft guidance released in 2024 but this never made it past consultation so none of its contents should be implemented.

Overall, the new 2025 guidance has been broadly welcomed for offering a more comprehensive and up-to-date approach to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) compared to the 2019 guidance. That said, a few areas remain less clear.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s changed and what these updates mean for how you deliver RSE.

1. A more holistic and technology-aware curriculum

The updated guidance reflects today’s challenges and policy landscape, taking a more holistic view of young people’s wellbeing and education.

For example, the Online Safety section of the previous guidance has expanded to Online Wellbeing – covering topics such as respectful digital relationships, recognising harmful online content and behaviours, and protecting mental health online.

The Health Protection and Prevention section now includes the evidence for vaccines and ensuring young people know about Gillick competency and their right to consent to treatment, even when their parents may not be in agreement.

The Developing Bodies section now recommends earlier puberty education, with information about periods taught before age eight.

We’re also pleased to see new topics introduced such as:

• AI literacy and deepfakes.
• Incel ideology, misogyny and sextortion.
• The importance of setting and respecting healthy boundaries in relationships.
• Skills for ending relationships or friendships with kindness.
• Recognition that sex can and should be enjoyable.

These additions will require you to expand your RSHE curriculum and build confidence in delivering new content. That might feel a little daunting, but don’t worry, Brook has got lots of resources coming to help with this transition.

2. Limited guidance on RSHE for young people with SEND

When it comes to supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the new guidance offers a mere two bullet points – one on the need for RSHE to be accessible and another stating that pupils with SEND may be ‘more vulnerable.’ Unfortunately, there’s no advice on differentiation or lesson delivery, and no emphasis on the importance of inclusive, comprehensive, sex-positive RSE for neurodivergent young people.

The good news is that our How to Deliver RSE course has been updated to align with the 2025 RSHE guidance. It includes a dedicated module on teaching Relationships and Sex Education to pupils with SEND, designed to help you recognise and overcome common barriers to learning.

This module explores a range of real-world scenarios and provides strategies for adapting lessons to meet diverse needs – ensuring that every young person can access meaningful, inclusive RSE.  

3. The language around LGBT+ inclusion is unclear

The new RHSE guidance takes a noticeably different tone in discussing LGBT+ inclusion. Unlike the 2019 version, it avoids using the LGBT+ acronym altogether and separates LGB from the ‘T’, referring instead to lesbian, bisexual, and gay young people and those who are “gender questioning.”

The section on the teaching gender reassignment has been met with widespread confusion, even from experienced educators. While it appears to reflect recent amendments to the Equality Act, educators are asked to explain the law around biological sex and gender reassignment, without promoting or presenting any particular view, and to avoid teaching as a fact that all people have a gender identity.

While this may feel unclear, it’s important to remember that inclusion remains central to good RSHE. Every young person should see their identities and family represented in their education.

Avoiding these topics isn’t the answer.

Our role as educators is to continue to be committed to inclusion, even when the guidance feels less confident. We can, and should, still talk about these topics thoughtfully and inclusively.

We’ll be sharing guidance on this in the coming weeks to support you to remain inclusive.

4. A new emphasis on RSHE being pupil-led

The updated RSHE guidance highlights that an inclusive and age appropriate RSHE curriculum should be shaped and informed by young people themselves.

At Brook, we’ve long championed the importance of pupil voice in developing and delivering RSHE. That’s why we’re pleased to see the new guidance places a greater emphasis on a participatory approach that recognises young people as active partners in their learning.

Our decades of experience have shown us that young people are the experts in their own lives. For RSHE to effectively prepare them for healthy, fulfilling futures, it must be informed by their voices, address the pressures they face and the questions they have.

If RSHE feels disconnected from their world, students will disengage. By listening to them, you can make sure your teaching speaks to their experiences, giving them skills and understanding.

How to do pupil voice