TRIGGER WARNING - Domestic Abuse

This petition and campaign call on the government to extend and mandate RSE to KS5 students (sixth form and college students aged 16-19).

My name is Faustine, I am a university student and young survivor of domestic abuse. As an older teenager, I would have benefited from being provided with RSE after year 11 and an adequate education surrounding the early warning signs of domestic abuse, the different forms abuse can take, and places to get help.

Teaching on domestic abuse and healthy relationships is a compulsory part of the Relationships and Sex Education( RSE) curriculum in all state secondary schools. This covers Years 7 to Year 11, also known as Key Stage 4 (KS4). However, the current model completely ignores sixth formers, apprenticeship students and college students, as it is NOT a mandatory requirement for RSE to be taught beyond KS4 level despite young people being in education up to the age of 18.

Students aged 16-19 (KS5) are at a crucial and vulnerable stage in their lives and therefore must be offered RSE and comprehensive lessons on domestic abuse and healthy relationships and signposted to local support services.

It is important to note that in 2022, 2 women per week were killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales. 

Sixth forms and colleges have a duty of care to protect their students of all gender identities and backgrounds from falling into the vicious cycle of perpetrating or suffering abuse. 

RSE more widely and education on domestic abuse saves lives, and prevention is the most effective solution to the problem. 

Please sign this petition to help protect all of Britain’s youth, as domestic abuse does not discriminate.