This piece of research, commissioned by Straight Talking with funding from Barking and Dagenham PCT and the Teenage Pregnancy Unit in the Department for Children, Schools and Families, did not aim to replicate the previous study but, rather, concentrated on students’ perceptions of the course and the extent to which they had heard and retained the messages from it.

Straight Talking was established in 1997 by its current Chief Executive and Manager and was registered as a charity in 1998. The charity relies on voluntary grants and donations to enable it to carry out its work. Its mission is to reduce the high rates of teenage pregnancy in the UK and to support and empower teenage parents, so that young people achieve economic wellbeing and quality of life. It raises young people’s awareness of the problems associated with teenage parenthood and educates them about the importance of delaying parenthood.