Sex Education: what age is it for?
17YRS
Official US rating: TV-MA. In France, zinema would say 16.
Watch the trailerthen where to watch it, in zinema
Alone, or with you
89101112131415161718
not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralone
The official US rating is TV-MA, and we never go below it. Alone from 17, and not before, even with an adult. Our reading, episode by episode, refines that single number: seasons 3 to 4 read at 15, seasons 1 to 2 at the top, 16.
What it's about
Inexperienced Otis channels his sex therapist mom when he teams up with rebellious Maeve to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school.
Why 17
- The official rating, firstRated TV-MA in the US (mature audiences only). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.rule
- Sex, shown and spoken plainlyThe series opens on a couple mid act, forty seconds into the first episode, dialogue included. Bed scenes are frequent and explicit across all four seasons, with bare bodies and full frontal nudity from the first one.
- A sexual assault, and the months afterIn the second season a teenage girl is assaulted on a bus by a man who masturbates against her. The scene runs some thirty seconds and nothing is framed, but it is played in the present. She says it the same morning, and the series then follows what it costs her for a long time.
- Self-harm, and finally saying itA pupil climbs onto a set in front of the whole school and threatens to jump; he is talked down, at length. Another deliberately injures his hand, and an adult puts the word on it. The series also looks anxiety and panic attacks straight in the face.
- A photo that goes round the schoolA photo of a pupil's genitals is sent to the whole school and discussed in class. A full episode hunts for who sent it, and it ends with the room standing up one by one to say it is theirs.
- Drink, drugs, and a mother who dies of itDrunken parties, joints and cigarettes are part of the school furniture, with no immediate moral. In the last season, one character's mother dies of an overdose, and her child says so plainly in front of everyone.
- The language, unfilteredSwearing is constant, insults fly between pupils, and homophobic, transphobic and ableist remarks are spoken on screen. The series stages them in order to turn them around, but it lets them be heard as they are.
What the series brings
- It talks about the body, consent and desire with a rare frankness, without shame and without a lesson.
- It shows that asking for help, from a friend, an adult or a professional, is nothing to be humiliated by.
- It gives room to very different teenagers, among them a boy in a wheelchair and a deaf pupil, and lets each find a place rather than making them cases.
Watching it together
Before
You can say beforehand: this talks about sex very directly, and if a passage makes you uncomfortable we pause and we talk about it, or not, as you prefer.
After
at 17 and up
In this series nobody dares put their real questions to the right person: who would you go and talk to, if something worried you?
Season by season
the reading per season, episode by episode · expand
Season 1 · 8 episodes, 50 min on average · zinema reading 16, 14 with a parent · France 14
no episode at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:
| Episode | What's in it |
|---|---|
| 1 · Kassa | Deaths told; frightening images; fights; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; sex scenes; nudity; and a lot of laughs, 49% of the episode. |
| 2 · That Would Be Me | Deaths told; frightening images; scary music; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 50% of the episode. |
| 3 · Reckoning | Deaths told; frightening images; a scene of cruelty; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 35% of the episode. |
| 4 · Aldhani | Deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 44% of the episode. |
| 5 · The Axe Forgets | Deaths told; frightening images; a scene of cruelty; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 16% of the episode. |
| 6 · The Eye | Deaths told; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 35% of the episode. |
| 7 · Announcement | Deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a child put in danger; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol. |
| 8 · Narkina 5 | Deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 19% of the episode. |
Season 2 · 8 episodes, 52 min on average · zinema reading 16, 15 with a parent · France 16 · the hardest
1 episode out of 8 at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:
| Episode | What's in it |
|---|---|
| 1 · One Year Later | Deaths told; frightening images; scary music; fights; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 29% of the episode. |
| 2 · Sagrona Teema | Frightening images; scary music; fights; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 47% of the episode. |
| 3 · Harvest | Deaths told; meanness; some swearing; sexual violence; sex scenes; and a lot of laughs, 18% of the episode. |
| 4 · Ever Been to Ghorman? | Many dark scenes; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 20% of the episode. |
| 5 · I Have Friends Everywhere | Frightening images; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 17% of the episode. |
| 6 · What a Festive Evening | More than half the episode in the dark; deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a child put in danger; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 30% of the episode. |
| 7 · Messenger | Frightening images; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 21% of the episode. |
| 8 · Who Are You? | Many dark scenes; deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol. |
Season 3 · 8 episodes, 57 min on average · zinema reading 15, 14 with a parent · France 14 · the gentlest
no episode at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:
| Episode | What's in it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Frightening images; scary music; a lot of swearing; sex scenes; and a lot of laughs, 43% of the episode. |
| 2 | Meanness; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 24% of the episode. |
| 3 | Deaths told; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 31% of the episode. |
| 4 | Deaths told; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 19% of the episode. |
| 5 | Many dark scenes; deaths told; frightening images; a lot of swearing; and a lot of laughs, 41% of the episode. |
| 6 | A scene of cruelty; some swearing. |
| 7 | Deaths told; frightening images; scary music; bullying; a lot of swearing; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 15% of the episode. |
| 8 | Deaths told; frightening images; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol. |
Season 4 · 8 episodes, 61 min on average · zinema reading 15, 14 with a parent · France 14
no episode at the top of the series. What's in each episode, without telling the story:
| Episode | What's in it |
|---|---|
| 1 | Frightening images; some swearing; drugs mentioned; sex scenes; and a lot of laughs, 35% of the episode. |
| 2 | Frightening images; a lot of swearing; and a lot of laughs, 43% of the episode. |
| 3 | Frightening images; a scene of cruelty; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 24% of the episode. |
| 4 | Deaths told; frightening images; bullying; some swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 24% of the episode. |
| 5 | Many dark scenes; deaths told; frightening images; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; alcohol; and a lot of laughs, 16% of the episode. |
| 6 | Deaths shown; frightening images; bullying; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned; and a lot of laughs, 16% of the episode. |
| 7 | Deaths told; meanness; a lot of swearing; drugs mentioned. |
| 8 | Frightening images; bullying; some swearing. |
See the facts
A zinema reading from September 9, 2026 · the 32 episodes of 4 seasons, watched one by one · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made