Insights and Research
All resources and information created by Period Education is underpinned by insight and research collected from teachers and pupils, ensuring an evidence-based approach. Our research is published in peer reviewed journals with accompanying reports and overviews of key findings.
01
We collected views of 789 teachers from the across the UK to understand current menstrual education in schools and their experiences of teaching.
02
We travelled across the UK to understand young peoples experiences of menstruation and the impact periods have in school and physical activity.
03
Pilot Menstrual Education Intervention in Schools
We listened to teachers and pupils to create lesson plans and guidance notes to help teacher menstrual education in schools. We evaluated the effectiveness of the education as part of this process, speaking to teachers and pupils about their experiences.
04
Peer Led Menstrual Education
Within our previous research pupils highlighted and requested menstrual education to be delivered by their peers and older students within their school. We facilitated co-design peer led menstrual education sessions with pupils and evaluated the effectiveness of this delivery approach in schools.
Menstrual cycle education in the UK
The purpose of this study was two-fold, to 1) explore current education provision in UK schools including barriers to menstrual cycle education and 2) assess the perceived support teachers received to deliver menstrual cycle education. 789 teachers (91% female) from all stages of school education in England (48%), Scotland (24%), Wales (22%) and Northern Ireland (6%) completed an online survey. The survey captured information on menstrual education in schools, teacher’s knowledge and confidence of the menstrual cycle, support provided to teachers, provision of menstrual products in school and perceived impact of the menstrual cycle on young people in school.
498 teachers reported lessons were provided on the menstrual cycle (63%), predominantly delivered within personal, social, health and economic or science subjects, with over half of the lessons focusing on the biology (56%) or provision of menstrual products (40%) rather than lived experiences (14%). Teachers perceived the menstrual cycle affected participation in PE (88%), pupil confidence (88%), school attendance (82%) and attitude and behavior (82%). Overall, 80% of teachers felt receiving training would be beneficial to improve menstrual education. The results highlight education is scientifically focused, with less education on management of symptoms or lived experiences. Teachers also perceive the menstrual cycle to influence multiple aspects of school attendance and personal performance. There is a need to address menstrual education provided in schools across the UK to help empower girls to manage their menstrual cycle, preventing a negative impact on health and school performance.
Published research article: Teacher's perceptions and experiences of menstrual cycle education and support in UK schools. Brown N., Williams R., Bruinvels G., Piasecki J. & Forrest LJ. (2022). Frontiers in Global Women's Health.
The Pupils' Voice on Menstrual Education and PE
Through listening to pupil voice, this research aimed to understand young people’s perceptions and experiences of menstrual education received in schools. This included perceived gaps in their own understanding, alongside levels of comfort experienced when having conversations with teachers, peers and parents. A secondary aim was to explore first-hand how girls felt their periods affected participation in Physical Education (PE) in school.
9 focus groups across 6 schools in England and Wales were completed. Participants were pupils assigned female at birth who were in years 6 to 10 (ages 10-15), or equivalent. Pupils were not required to have started their periods/reached menarche.
Overall, the findings of this study highlight the expansive impact menstruation and menstrual cycle-related symptoms has on school and PE participation, particularly linked to 1) lack of education received in school 2) negative experiences of menstruating at school and 3) lack of comfort talking to teachers. The abundance of information requested by pupils highlights the deficit in education provided to pupils to understand and manage periods in school and in relation to staying physically active.