Sex Education to become compulsory in secondary schools

Primary school children will also have lessons modern relationships

Currently the national curriculum restricts sex education is limited to biology lessons (Corbis)

Sex education will become compulsory for in secondary schools, the government is set to announce.

Primary school children are also expected to have lessons on modern relationships.

Sex education is only currently compulsory in local authority run-schools and only includes biology lessons. The new measures will extend to grammar schools, academies and free schools.

Conservative MPs David Burrowes and Maria Miller, the former women and equalities minister, tabled an amendment to the children and social care bill that would introduce relationships education to the national curriculum.

“For the purposes of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, the secretary of state must, by regulations, make relationships education a statutory component of the national curriculum within the meaning of part 6 of the Education Act 2002,” the amendment said.

A No 10 spokesman said: “The department will be saying more than this in due course. High quality relationship and sex education is an important part of preparing young people for adult life.

“The education secretary has been clear she is looking at options to make sure children have access to education in those subjects. Clearly, there is a threat online and that threat has grown and now is the right time to look at how we can ensure children can have the access they need to teaching about those subjects.”