Personal, social, health and economic education

The PSHE education programme of study is organised into three core themes:^[6]

1. Health and well-being; Learning how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, understanding diet and exercise, coping with stress, managing emotions, and developing digital resilience. It also covers statutory Health Education, which includes mental health awareness, basic first aid, and the risks associated with drugs, alcohol, and vaping.
2. Relationships: Covers Relationships and Sex Education (RSE). Learning about the building blocks of healthy, respectful relationships, the importance of consent, understanding different family structures, how to handle peer pressure, and how to identify and address unhealthy relationships.
3. Living in the wider world (covering economic well-being and careers): Prepares for adult and working life. Topics include economic wellbeing (budgeting, earning, and managing money), understanding employment rights, media literacy (recognising fake news and managing digital footprint), and learning about rights and responsibilities as a global citizen.

These themes include numerous topics linked to physical and mental health, alcohol and drug culture, sex, and relationships, education, economic well-being, media literacy (spotting fake news and online safety), and careers.

The term PSHE was first introduced in the 2000 edition of the national curriculum, as a non-compulsory element that was encouraged to be taught in schools.^[7] Whilst this was the first official introduction of the subject to the national curriculum, it had already existed in an informal context since the 1960s. The first formal introduction of a PSHE component was Relationship and Sex Education, then known simply as sex education, as a non-statutory subject. A framework for PSHE was introduced in the 1990s, though its non-statutory status once again meant that it was not taught in some schools.^[8] In its earlier forms, the vagueness of the themes to be taught in PSHE was the subject of much criticism, with its "uncertain nature" making it difficult to teach.^[9]

Until 2020, PSHE education was a non-statutory (and therefore non-compulsory) curriculum subject. However, as Ofsted stated in its 2013 PSHE report, "the great majority of schools choose to teach it because it makes a major contribution to their statutory responsibilities to promote children and young people's personal and economic wellbeing; offer sex and relationships education; prepare pupils for adult life and provide a broad and balanced curriculum".^[3][10][11]

In 2017 the government committed to introducing compulsory relationships and sex education (RSE) in all secondary schools, and compulsory 'relationships education' in all primary schools.^[12] An additional commitment to the health education (mental and physical) aspect of PSHE education was announced in July 2018.^[13] The majority of PSHE education will therefore be compulsory in all schools from September 2020. Schools are expected to cover the economic wellbeing (and careers) components of PSHE education.^[14][15] The PSHE Association and the Sex Education Forum jointly published a 'Roadmap to Statutory RSE education'^[16] in November 2018 to support schools in preparing their relationships and sex education for statutory changes.^[16] In February 2019, the Department of Education enacted a statutory guidance policy which will assist schools in England with PSHE when it becomes compulsory in 2020.^[17][18]

A measure to make PSHE compulsory in primary and secondary schools in England received approval from the House of Lords in April 2019.^[19] The Department for Education (DfE) published final statutory guidance for teaching Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education in June 2019.^[20] The consultation closed in November 2018. This guidance has replaced existing government "Sex and Relationship Education Guidance", which were last updated in 2000.^[21] The guidelines, which were also published by the House of Commons,^[22] require, among other things, acknowledgement of England's laws concerning gay rights, including the legalization of same-sex marriage and the protection of the "physical and mental wellbeing" of gay children.^[23][22]

The PSHE Association is the national body for PSHE education in England, providing advice and support to a network of over 50,000 teachers and other professionals working in schools nationwide. The Association is an independent charity and membership organisation, established as the official national PSHE subject association by the Department for Education in 2007.

• Stand Against Violence
• Relationship and Sex Education