evidence: Annual 2021 conception data* released on 30 March 2023 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in England 13.1 per 1,000 young women under-18 became pregnant. [...] "The small rise in England’s under-18 conception rate, is the first increase in 14 years. Although it may in part be due to lower rates in 2020 caused by behavioural changes during the pandemic lockdown periods, it is a stark caution against complacency and a timely prompt to redouble our efforts to ensure all young people have the knowledge and confidence they need to navigate healthy relationships and prevent unplanned pregnancy. That means effective implementation of high-quality relationships and sex education (RSE) in schools, open conversations at home, and providing easy access to youth friendly contraceptive services. Yet although RSE is mandatory in all schools, the Sex Education Forum 2022 Poll [PDF] of 16- & 17-year-olds found only 40% reported their RSE as good or very good, nearly 1 in 10 didn’t learn anything at all about condoms or contraception from their school RSE, and 56% had learnt not enough or nothing about how to access local sexual health services, despite this being a requirement of the statutory guidance. As one young person in the Poll noted, ‘Schools should definitely improve on teaching "accessing sexual health services"- this is a very easy thing to teach and doesn’t take much time’. [...] Public Health England Teenage Pregnancy Reports