Student-reported relationships and sex education coverage and knowledge among a diverse population of early adolescents: a cross-sectional survey of students in England

ABSTRACT

Student-reported quality and coverage of school-based relationships and sex education (RSE) vary, with gender/sexual-minority and disadvantaged students reporting poorer provision. Experience of RSE among younger adolescents is under-explored. We examined student-reported RSE coverage and priorities and how coverage, and sexual-health knowledge and awareness of services, varies between students and schools. The data came from a pre-intervention survey of students aged 12–13 years within a trial of an RSE intervention involving 50 English schools. There was most coverage of basic information, such as puberty and safeguarding. There was least coverage of topics more appropriate for older students, such as sexual relationships, and topics teachers might find difficult to broach, e.g. pornography and masturbation. Girls, gay/lesbian students, students of bisexual/other sexual orientation, minority-ethnic students and students reporting lower academic commitment reported lower coverage than others. Knowledge of RSE-related topics and sexual-health services was generally low. Boys, students of bisexual/other orientation and students with higher school commitment had higher knowledge. Students of bisexual/other orientation and students of lower commitment reported lower awareness of services. Coverage and knowledge did not vary with school-level attainment or local deprivation. Future forms of RSE provision should ensure content and teaching methods meet the needs of all students.

KEYWORDS:

• sex education
• early adolescents
• relationships
• knowledge
• coverage
• needs

Acknowledgments

We thank the staff and students in participating schools and fieldworkers for their support for this work. We also thank Lucy Emmerson and Rachael Baker of the Sex Education Forum for their advice.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Once trial analyses are complete, the data will be available upon reasonable request to the principal investigator (CB). https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/bonell.chris

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research in England under its Public Health Research Board (131487). The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the UK NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, or the Department of Health for England.