Launching bid to extend relationship education until 18

Alistair Strathern, MP for Hitchin, joined with campaigners from across the country to urge MPs to back his Private Members Bill to make Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) compulsory until the age of 18, closing what they describe as a dangerous gap in education. 

Young people aged 16 to 19 experience the highest rates of domestic abuse of any age group, yet under current legislation the need for education settings to provide RSE ends at 16. As a result, millions of teenagers who are entering further education are not guaranteed lessons on consent, coercive control or how to recognise the signs of abuse.

To highlight this education gap and build support for his Bill, Alistair partnered with Make It Mandatory, Killed Women and End Violence Against Women to launch the ‘Unofficial Curriculum’. 

The mock textbook was unveiled in Parliament Square on Monday 19 October. It highlights the harmful messages young people can encounter when compulsory RSE ends, including violent pornography, online misinformation and content that normalises coercive control and abuse.

Alistair Strathern MP said: “Young people deserve better than the worst corners of the internet for advice on sex and relationships. Yet just as many young people begin their first serious relationships, compulsory education on these issues comes to an end.

“Education isn’t just about exams and careers, it’s about preparing young people for life. This Bill is about giving every young person the tools to recognise danger, seek help and build relationships based on respect. 

“That knowledge can change lives – and, in some cases, save them.”

Faustine Petron, Founder of Make It Mandatory, said: “When I was 16, I entered my first romantic relationship, as most teenagers do. I was excited for this new stage of my life, but that excitement soon wore away as the relationship became controlling and, eventually, violent. 

“For the first year, I didn't call it abuse because I didn't have the words for it. No teacher had ever given them to me, and at that age it was hard to tell the difference between love and control.

“I started Make It Mandatory because I couldn’t accept that another generation of young people could be left as unprepared as I was. I wanted what happened to me to become a reason for change.”

For Carole Gould, Co-founder of Killed Women, the need for change is deeply personal. Her daughter Ellie was just 17 when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, and she is backing the Bill to help ensure other young people are better equipped to recognise the warning signs of abuse.

Carole Gould said: “As a mother you just want to protect your child. The coercive control my daughter experienced in her first relationship was so subtle we all failed to recognise the red flags and the danger she was in. 

“Ellie was only 17 when she was murdered by her ex-boyfriend for ending the relationship”.