Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) - what does this mean for my teen, do they have to do it, and how can I help as a parent?

Sep 6, 2025
8 min read

Updated: Jul 22

This is just a snippet from The Parents' Guide to RSHE. If you’d like the full version, with clear, up-to-date advice, practical tips and actions you can take at home, click below.

Read the full guide: The Parents' Guide to Relationships, Sex and Health Education

Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) is designed to help students stay safe and healthy. It aims to support teens in managing their personal and social lives positively, helping them make informed decisions by understanding the facts and knowing where to go for more support.

RSHE covers a wide range of topics. This includes looking after mental and physical health, recognising healthy and unhealthy relationships, understanding how to stay safe online, and facts about potentially harmful substances. The aim is to create a supportive environment where young people feel comfortable addressing their concerns.

Some parents feel uncertain, and in some cases uncomfortable, with some of the topics covered. In this article we’ll take a close look at the course content, why it’s important, and how you can support your teen at home by providing a safe place for them to talk about things they may be struggling to understand.

What is RSHE?

Relationships, Sex and Health Education promotes mental and emotional wellbeing by giving young people strategies to manage stress, build resilience and seek support when needed. RSHE became compulsory in all secondary schools as of September 2020. The world for young people looks very different from 20 years ago, especially as technology and social media play such a significant role in their lives.

A small section of the curriculum covers intimate relationships, but its overall scope is much broader. By learning about topics like healthy relationships, consent and personal safety, young people are able to make informed decisions about their own wellbeing and relationships.

A snapshot of course content

There’s no grade or qualification given for RSHE, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. It’s an essential component of helping teenagers understand behaviours that affect their health and safety. Content centres on helping teens develop the knowledge, characteristics and resilience they'll need as adults. At times we all face difficulties in life, and it’s important to know there's support available, and how and where to get it.

How is RSHE taught?

Schools have a great deal of flexibility in how and when RSHE topics are taught. This means what your teen learns from Year 7 to Year 11 may differ from school to school (so don’t compare if you have teens in different schools), but over time the school must cover all subject areas. This allows schools to bear in mind sensitivities within their own communities.

Many schools deliver RSHE in timetabled lessons as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) curriculum, but some deliver it through off-timetable days and workshops throughout the year. External specialists may be invited to speak on certain areas that fall outside the expertise of school teachers, such as a member of staff from a sexual health clinic.

You can contact your teen’s school to find out more about their approach.

Must my teen attend RSHE lessons at school?

Yes. Provision of the full RSHE curriculum is a legal requirement in secondary schools, and students are expected to attend lessons.

However, you can delay your teen’s participation in the sex education elements up until three terms before their sixteenth birthday (the legal age of consent). This is called the 'right to withdraw'. For example, if your teen starts Year 10 and will turn 16 during that year, you don't have the right to withdraw at any point in Year 10. If they will turn 16 later, you can request they don't attend the sex education unit during Year 10. Once they enter Year 11, it becomes their choice.

We don’t recommend withdrawing your teen from components of RSE, because they'll miss out on guided discussion with correct information and may instead seek out information from unreliable online sources or friends.

Must my teen attend RSHE lessons at school?

Your right to information

If you're concerned about RSHE, or would like more detail of exactly what will be covered, we suggest:

obtaining a copy of the RSHE curriculum from your child’s school, so you can see what topics your teen will learn about each year
asking for examples of the resources used, to understand how certain topics are taught
speaking with a member of staff to discuss any parts of the curriculum that make you feel uncomfortable
reviewing the school policy, which has been created in consultation with parents

Objectives for RSE

Judgement - to help teens work out who is trustworthy and judge when situations are unsafe, and to distinguish reliable sources of information from unreliable ones.
Respect - to help teens understand what makes healthy, positive relationships and friendships, including boundaries, privacy, consent, resolving conflict and ending relationships.
Stereotypes - how and why these can cause damage.
Online - how information and data is created, collected, shared and used; their rights and responsibilities, the risks, and how and where to get support.
Consent - the concepts and laws relating to consent, and how people can communicate and recognise it.
Intimate relationships - the importance of reproductive health, the positive aspects of healthy one-to-one relationships, managing sexual pressure, and where to get further advice.

Why parents are so important

Parents are a very important influence on their teen's decisions, how they think, and whether they feel able to get more information. When parents communicate frequently and openly, teenagers feel closer to them and more able to talk about things they're unsure about.

Many parents worry their teen might not be ready to learn about relationships and sex. However, RSHE is much more than just sex. It teaches young people about all relationships, including how to be a good friend, family member and citizen, and does not promote early sexual experimentation. Instead, it educates young people about human sexuality and how to respect themselves and others.

When it comes to relationships and sex, education shouldn’t happen as a one-off sit-down talk. By regularly talking about RSHE topics at home, you help take away some of the stigma by making it part of the everyday. You’ll also help your teen understand the difference between what they see online and what they experience in real life; in some cases the contrast can be extreme.

An easy way to get comfortable with RSHE topics is to watch television aimed at teenagers. Using TV is a great way to talk about sensitive issues, because it shifts the focus from your teen to imaginary characters, making it much easier for them to express opinions without feeling it’s personal.

Our top ten tips on how to talk to your teen about relationships and sex

1. Start early and often

Being open to discussing relationships and sex early in your teen’s life helps them feel more comfortable talking to you and asking questions when they’re older. Having regular conversations also sends the message that these topics are important enough to talk about, and are a normal part of life.

2. Listen without interrupting

Listening is key to helping your teen feel comfortable opening up to you. Encourage them by asking lots of questions. If they start with a question, get them to share what they already know before you answer. This helps you gauge their understanding and find out more about what they know before you share your knowledge.

3. It’s okay to feel embarrassed or awkward

Everyone’s comfort level is different when it comes to discussing relationships and sex. Try not to let embarrassment or awkwardness discourage you or your teen from having these conversations. Your teen will likely be very grateful to you for taking the initiative and letting them ask questions, so long as you don’t make it about them.

4. Try to be positive, without judgement

You want your child to be able to talk to you about anything, so it’s important not to invalidate them, their feelings or their experiences. Approach the conversation ready to listen. Try not to say anything that closes down the channels of conversation now or in future, and try not to focus only on the dangers and negative consequences; recognise the positive aspects and feelings too.

5. Don’t make assumptions

Don’t assume that because your teen has asked a question about relationships or sex, they're actually in a relationship or active. Plenty of teens ask because they're curious, or they’ve come across something online or through a friend. If your teen asks a question, give them an answer; if you don’t have one, be truthful. This builds trust and makes it easier for them to turn to you when they’re older.

6. Ask for a copy of the RSE curriculum from their school

This lets you know when topics are being covered, so you can talk to your teen before or after they come up (whichever is easier for you). If you’re not comfortable with the topics, you can talk to school staff about how they present the information. Schools spend a lot of time making sure lessons are age-appropriate and suitable for their students and communities.

7. Use prompts to get the conversation started

If you’re struggling to start, TV shows, films, websites, books and magazines can be a springboard for talking about relationships or sex without initiating a conversation that seems targeted at your teen. If dating, LGBTQIA+ issues, love or sex come up in something you're watching together, it can prompt a discussion. Questions like 'what would you do if someone you were dating acted like that character?' can trigger useful conversations where you learn how they feel without making it about them.

8. Make it about values

There are a lot of places your teen can go to find out about relationships and sex: school, books, the internet and friends. What’s important is that you help them learn positive, healthy values, such as how to treat others kindly and respectfully. Without this guidance, young people can learn from sources with unrealistic depictions of relationships and sex.

9. Don’t always make it about them

Your teen might find it easier to talk about relationships and sex in the third person. Stories about friends, family members or examples from TV or the news are all good ways to get them talking. Questions such as 'what do you think that person should have done?', 'what could they have done differently?' and 'what pressures might they have felt?' help your teen talk freely about difficult topics, because it shifts the focus away from them.

10. It’s okay not to have all the answers

It’s okay to tell your teen you don’t know the answer to something. Either tell them you’ll get back to them after some research, or use it as an opportunity to research together. There are plenty of great resources and websites for parents and children. If you’re not sure where to start, try Brook.

Sharing your values

RSHE helps teens across a range of topics, including looking after mental and physical health, recognising healthy and unhealthy relationships, and being safe online, all of which centre on wellbeing. Some of these subjects can feel tricky to talk about. It can be uncharted territory for you and your teen, so approach these discussions with empathy and patience, acknowledging that your teen may feel awkward or embarrassed too. Don't forget, these conversations also give you the chance to share your values as a parent: what you believe is important in relationships and healthy choices.