Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the school curriculum is LGBTQIA+ inclusive.

Within a broad framework, set out in subject specific programmes of study, schools have flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils.

To prepare children for life in modern Britain, pupils need to understand the world in which they are growing up. The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum is therefore designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe and healthy lives, and to foster respect for other people and for difference.

The RSHE statutory guidance states that all pupils should receive teaching on LGBT content during their school years. Pupils should have an equal opportunity to explore the features of stable and healthy same sex relationships and this should be integrated appropriately into the relationships and sex education programme, rather than addressed separately or in only one lesson.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, which is chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Curriculum and Assessment Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that reflects the issues and diversities of our society, ensuring all children and young people are represented. The review group has recently launched a call for evidence, setting out a number of key questions and themes where it would particularly welcome evidence and input.