Abstract
From September 2020, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) was made
compulsory across all secondary schools in England, to give all pupils the skills they
need to succeed in their personal, social, and academic lives. To support schools in
the design and implementation of a compulsory RSE, the government issued all
schools with compulsory subject guidance. Notably, this guidance included mention of
LGBTQ+ lives and relationships and their inclusion within RSE.
This thesis aimed to develop an understanding of the 2019 RSE guidance, how
the policy was being enacted in practice, to explore the opinions of teachers and
practitioners of compulsory RSE, and to what extent LGBTQ+ lives and relationships
are being included in RSE. This was done through a mixed methods approach. A
discourse analysis was conducted on the 2019 RSE guidance. An online survey was
administered to understand teachers’ and practitioners’ views of compulsory RSE, the
guidance, and LGBTQ+ inclusivity in RSE (n=58). Interviews were conducted virtually
with RSE teachers and practitioners to further explore their perceptions and
experiences of compulsory RSE (n=20).
The discourse analysis identified that the 2019 RSE guidance was very
ambiguous and remained written under the assumption that all pupils are cisgender
and heterosexual, othering LGBTQ+ identities. The survey showed very few variations
between educators in their attitudes towards RSE and inclusivity in the curriculum,
both of which were very positive. The interviews demonstrated that participants felt
passionate about RSE but that the guidance had created confusion about what to
include when designing a curriculum.
Based on a synthesis of findings, this thesis argues that compulsory RSE has
done little to combat the variability in provision. The ambiguous language in the
guidance has created confusion amongst educators regarding what they should
include in RSE. Many feel that the guidance does little to support the inclusion of
LGBTQ+ lives and relationships, and educators feel that they lack the knowledge and
terminology to effectively do so themselves. Despite many challenges, it was clear
that educators remained passionate about RSE.