No relationships and sex education training in four out of five schools, minister admits

School standards minister Robin Walker has admitted that only 4,800 schools have received training from the government’s ‘teach the teacher’ and peer support programme around the delivery of RSHE.

This is a fifth of all the UK’s 24,000 primary and secondary state schools.

• Special report: Sexual Health and Relationships

• Feature: Getting sexual health and relationships education right

Walker was responding to a written question from Labour MP for Rotherham Sarah Champion, who asked what assessment had been made by the government of the adequacy of training for teachers to deliver RSHE, which has been mandatory in schools since September 2020.

Walker said that training had reached 3,800 schools in the 2020/21 academic year and a further 1,000 schools have been supported during a final wave of training that ended in July.

He said that this is a “cascade model” of training where those who have been trained are “expected to share the training with other teachers in their school and wider school networks”.

He added that Department for Education training modules around RSHE are available for schools to download for free.

Champion is concerned that “while limited resources are available online, they do not enable teachers to ask questions and feel genuinely comfortable in teaching such sensitive material”.

She added: “RSHE is a particularly challenging topic to teach, and many teachers have repeatedly stated they do not feel confident engaging pupils with the subject.

“I am appalled that the government have had four years to prepare teachers to deliver RSHE, yet the majority are unable to access any in-person support at all.

“It’s incredibly disappointing that the government pass the buck and expect overworked teachers to train their colleagues, rather than providing the genuine support that schools need.

“RSHE is the most important tool at our disposal when it comes to tackling abuse and addressing harmful attitudes from a young age, but the government refuses to take the implementation of it seriously.

“The government must urgently provide the necessary support to teachers in order for statutory RSHE to have the intended impact and bring about positive change to children’s lives.”