Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend the national curriculum to include teaching on the dangers of (a) road collisions, (b) drink-driving and (c) driving under the influence of drugs.

From September 2020 in England, Relationships Education became compulsory for all primary school aged pupils, Relationships and Sex Education compulsory for all secondary school aged pupils, and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in state funded schools.

The statutory guidance for Health Education sets out the following content on drugs, alongside drug education as a statutory subject in maintained schools as part of the National Curriculum for science in Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. Primary education guidance covers the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use and drug taking. Secondary education guidance builds on the primary areas and additionally covers the associated legal and psychological risks of using drugs.

In Health Education, there is a strong focus on mental wellbeing, including a recognition that mental wellbeing and physical health are linked. This includes teaching about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, including drug misuse. The Department has published non statutory implementation guidance titled ‘Plan your Relationships, Sex and Health Education Curriculum’, alongside teacher training materials. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-your-relationships-sex-and-health-curriculum.

The Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance states that, in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts about legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug taking. A link to this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.

To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the Department published a suite of teacher training modules, including one on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-training-drugs-alcohol-and-tobacco.

Personal safety, which would include road safety, is currently a part of the Personal, Social, Health and Economic curriculum, but this subject is not mandatory in schools.

The Department will be launching a public consultation by the end of this year on draft revised RSHE guidance, so that interested parties can contribute their comments and ideas, including the impact of drink driving and drug taking on driving and road safety generally. The Department intends to publish final guidance in 2024.