Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to introduce the teaching of menstrual wellbeing in schools.

The national curriculum for science includes content on puberty and the menstrual cycle in key stages 2 and 3. The government also provides guidance on Sex and Relationship Education which outlines how and when schools can prepare girls and boys for puberty and menstruation.

Under reforms in the Children and Social Work Act 2017, all primary schools will be required to teach Relationships Education and all secondary schools to teach Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). We are also considering compulsory status for Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education.

To help reach evidence-based decisions on what these subjects may look like, the government has been conducting a thorough engagement process with a wide range of expert stakeholders. Departmental officials are currently analysing the evidence gathered during this process and intend to put new statutory guidance and regulations out for public consultation later in the year.