The Government's New Plan to Tackle Misogyny in Schools: What It Means for Your Child

The story in brief

On 26 September 2026, the Department for Education published a new whole-school framework designed to tackle misogyny, challenge the influence of online figures like Andrew Tate, and give teachers and parents practical tools to talk to young people about respect and healthy relationships. Education Secretary Lucy Powell set out the plan alongside a package of teacher training, practical guides and parent support materials, describing it as a way to create a culture of respect and belonging in schools.

It lands at the same moment two major changes become mandatory. From 1 September 2026, schools in England must follow the updated Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance, and the 2026 edition of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) — the safeguarding rulebook every school must comply with — now names misogyny as a specific harm schools are expected to address.

If you have a child at secondary school, or a Year 5 or 6 pupil about to move up, this will affect what they're taught, what their teachers are trained to spot, and what the school is expected to raise with you at home.

What the new framework actually does

The framework is a "whole-school approach", which in DfE language means it isn't just a lesson slot in the timetable. It runs through pastoral care, behaviour policies, staff conduct and the culture of the school itself. In practical terms, the package includes:

• A practical framework and guides for schools to challenge misogynistic attitudes and combat the influence of figures such as Andrew Tate.
• Specialist teacher training so staff feel confident leading conversations about consent, pornography, online influencers and coercive behaviour.
• Parent support materials intended to help families continue those conversations at home.
• Pilot interventions for pupils already displaying harmful behaviours, including teenage relationship abuse.

From September 2026, the government will pilot and evaluate interventions in schools that support young people who display harmful behaviours, including teenage relationship abuse. The package sits inside a wider cross-government strategy to reduce violence against women and girls, with a funding envelope reported by Tes at around £20 million, £16 million of which comes from government.

Why it matters now: RSHE and KCSiE

Two things changed in September 2026 that give this framework real teeth.

Updated RSHE guidance is now statutory

Relationships Education is compulsory in primary schools; Relationships and Sex Education is compulsory in secondaries; and Health Education is compulsory in state-funded schools. The updated statutory guidance comes into force on 1 September 2026, meaning schools have had time to prepare for the changes, and although the previous statutory guidance remained in force until 2026, schools were free to update their curriculum earlier.

The new content is more explicit about the online world your child is actually in. Factors contributing to misogyny, including incel culture, pornography, gendered sexual violence and the need for positive male role models, are covered in the new guidance.

Parents retain the right to request that their child is withdrawn from some or all of sex education (though not from Relationships or Health Education). If that matters to you, ask the school for their RSHE policy — they are required to publish it.

KCSiE 2026 names misogyny as a safeguarding issue

KCSiE is the statutory safeguarding guidance every school in England must have regard to. The 2026 edition raises the bar. KCSiE 2026 is clear that dismissing sexist or misogynistic behaviour between children as "banter", "just having a laugh" or "boys being boys" creates a culture that normalises abuse and discourages victims from coming forward. Both KCSiE 2026 and the RSHE guidance must be implemented by schools from 1 September 2026.

Alongside that, misogyny is now listed as a specific online content risk that schools' filtering, monitoring and online safety education must address, sitting alongside pornography, radicalisation and extremism.

The upshot: if your child reports something happening in the corridor, changing room or group chat that would once have been shrugged off, the school now has a clearer duty to take it seriously.

What this looks like in your child's school year

You probably won't see a rebranded "misogyny lesson" on the timetable. What you should see, over the course of the year, is:

• RSHE lessons that include content on healthy relationships, consent, coercive control, image-based abuse (including deepfakes) and the influence of online figures.
• Behaviour and anti-bullying policies that name sexist and misogynistic conduct explicitly.
• Staff who are less likely to overlook comments, gestures or nicknames that used to be tolerated.
• Communication from school — newsletters, parent evenings, information sessions — flagging what's being taught and when.

If none of that is visible by the spring term, it is a reasonable question to ask the head of year or the designated safeguarding lead (DSL).

Talking to your teenager at home

The framework openly acknowledges that schools cannot do this alone. Most of what shapes a teenager's view of gender happens outside the classroom: at home, in friendship groups, and — increasingly — on a phone at 11pm. A few things that work in practice.

Start from curiosity, not the algorithm

Rather than opening with "Do you watch Andrew Tate?", ask what's actually on their feed. Who's funny at the moment? Who does everyone at school follow? What did they scroll past on the way to school? You'll learn far more, and they're far less likely to shut down.

Name the business model

Teenagers respond well to being treated as intelligent. Explain that outrage, contempt and extreme opinions get more clicks, so algorithms push them harder. Influencers who provoke a reaction earn more money. That reframing — from "these people are telling the truth no one else will" to "these people are selling anger for a living" — is often more effective than moral disapproval.

Talk about respect before you talk about sex

Consent, boundaries and how you treat someone you disagree with are relationship skills, not sex-education topics. They apply to friendships, group chats and sport as much as to romantic relationships. Younger teenagers who bristle at "sex talks" often engage readily with conversations about fairness and loyalty.

Give boys something to be, not just something not to be

Much of the appeal of the manosphere is that it offers boys a clear identity. If the only message they hear at home is what not to think, the vacuum gets filled elsewhere. Talk about the men you admire and why — including men in the family — and what a good friend, partner and colleague actually looks like.

Keep the door open when they get it wrong

Teenagers will parrot things they've heard, sometimes deliberately to test a reaction. A calm "where did you hear that?" followed by a genuine conversation will almost always land better than a row. The aim is that they keep telling you what they think, even when you don't like it.

If you're worried about a specific situation

If your child has been the target of sexist harassment, image-based abuse or coercive behaviour — online or in person — contact the school's designated safeguarding lead directly. Under KCSiE 2026, they are expected to take it seriously and record it, whether or not the other child is a pupil at the same school. For anything involving illegal content (including sexual images of under-18s), the Internet Watch Foundation and CEOP are the right routes; for immediate risk, the police.

For most families, though, the practical response to the new framework is quieter. Read the RSHE policy when the school sends it. Ask what's being covered this term. Keep the conversations at home going, even when they're awkward. The government's plan gives schools a stronger hand — but the work at the kitchen table still counts for more than any lesson plan.