Officials said there are many factors that come into play when it comes to preventing teen pregnancy and increasing education. Sex education is only one part of that. Parents have been found to have a large influence when it comes early pregnancy. Officials encourage parents to talk to their children more about sex.
Lead researcher Dr Marion Henderson said, "It is clear that economic circumstances still largely determine the likelihood of teenage pregnancy. To have a stronger impact, alternative interventions should be considered."
The Medical Research Council study was published in the British Medical Journal. 25 secondary schools were studied. It found that pregnancy and abortion rates were the same whether students were given a conventional sex education class, which basically hands out information and discusses values, or an enhanced sex education class, where students and teachers role play and work on skills like negotiating sexual encounters.
A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said, "High quality Personal Social Health Education is a vital part of a successful strategy which must also include easy access to advice and contraception for young people.
"Our research shows that areas which deliver their strategies in this way have seen much greater successes in bringing down rates and our latest guidance urges all local authorities and primary care trusts to work in this way."
