RSE to 18
Protecting young people through education.
Working in partnership with others in the sector (Make it Mandatory, Sex Education Forum, EVAW, Brook), KW want compulsory relationships and sex education extended to age 18, through changes to education legislation and investment in delivery, so young people receive the knowledge and support needed to prevent abuse in relationships.
On 17 June 2026, Make It Mandatory, End Violence Against Women Coalition, Sex Education Forum and Brook were proud to announce securing a Private Member’s Bill, sponsored by Alistair Strathern MP, which would change the law to make Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) a mandatory requirement for all young people up to the age of 18, including in further education.
Government data shows that 16–19-year-olds face the highest rates of domestic abuse, and that girls aged 15 to 19 and boys aged 10 to 14 are most likely to be victims of sexual offences, according to police-recorded crime figures (ONS, 2025). Yet mandatory RSE currently ends at 16, precisely the age at which children become most vulnerable. This Private Members Bill follows Make it Mandatory’s petition that called for RSE to be mandated to 18, which has gathered over 106,000 signatures. Debate on the Bill, which we will be supporting, will start in September.
As reported on BBC Points West, Faustine Petron and Ithar Ghalifa of Make It Mandatory were invited on 22 April 2026 – after over four years of campaigning – to meet the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, alongside KW co-founder Carole Gould and Janaya Walker of End Violence Against Women Coalition to discuss mandating relationships and sex education (RSE) to 18, as this currently ends at 16 years old.
In Make It Mandatory’s words: “As survivors, bereaved families and expert organisations we know the very real cost of not responding urgently to VAWG through prevention, which is why whilst we welcome the government’s commitment to mandate our ask of RSE to 18, we are deeply concerned with the lack of urgency and absence of timeline.
Bridget Phillipson emphasised her commitment to this issue and her desire to make this legislative change happen as swiftly as possible so that every child up to the age of 18 receives this education. We will continue to work with government to ensure that this change happens sooner rather than later and is action and not just more words. RSE to 18 can’t be delayed any further, particularly if the government wish to meet their pledge of halving VAWG.”
On Monday 19 January 2026, Killed Women co-founder Carole Gould was at the Houses of Parliament, in support of Make It Mandatory, Sex Education Forum and End Violence Against Women Coalition as they – along with Baroness Nicky Morgan – delivered a letter to the Department for Education calling for Relationships & Sex Education to be made mandatory for all 16–18 year olds.
In the afternoon, the Peers in the House of Lords were briefed in detail about why extending RSE to 18 is so important. With the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill currently going through Parliament, this is the moment when, by making an amendment to the Bill, they can make this vital change happen.
On Tuesday 14 October 2025, Carole Gould and Jhiselle Feanny of Killed Women attended and spoke at a roundtable in Parliament organised by Amnesty Feminists and Make It Mandatory, where we heard powerful testimony about what the gap in teaching Relationships and Sexuality Education from the ages of 16–18 costs us.
At ‘RSE to 18 – A Call to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls’ we heard from educators who see it and from young people who’ve lived it.
Extending #RSEto18 is the bare minimum our government must do to deliver on their promise of halving violence against women and girls.
Faustine Petron, who started the Make It Mandatory campaign for increased relationship education, was herself a victim of domestic abuse before her ex boyfriend was sent to jail. Her campaign says Relationships and Sex Education (RSE), which is already taught in primary and secondary schools, should be extended to colleges and sixth forms. Over 105,000 people have signed her petition, which was delivered to Downing Street on 16 June 2025.
Killed Women co-founder Carole Gould, whose 17-year-old daughter Ellie was stabbed to death by a fellow student at her school (also 17 at the time) after she ended their relationship of three months, helped to deliver Faustine's petition as an expression of KW’s support for the campaign.
For more information about the campaign and to sign the petition, please see Faustine’s page on Change.org: ‘Ask the government to help prevent domestic abuse through education’