Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to section 404 of the Education Act 1996, what her Department’s policy is on the teaching of sex and relationships education in proposed new grammar schools.

Edward Timpson

Our plan is that the curriculum requirements that apply to existing grammar schools will apply to any proposed new grammar schools.

The requirement under section 404 of the Education Act 1996 for schools to have a statement of their policy on the provision of sex education applies to maintained schools, and the requirement to teach sex education (under section 80 of the Education Act 1996) applies to maintained secondary schools only. Grammar schools operating in the maintained sector are required to teach sex education and must adhere to the requirement under section 404 of the Education Act 1996.

Academies, including grammar schools which are academies, must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and in respect of sex education, they must – like maintained schools – have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education guidance issued in 2000. The guidance stipulates that schools must have an up-to-date policy in relation to their sex and relationship education provision. The guidance can be access via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sex-and-relationship-education

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