Age of Consent in United Kingdom

What is the United Kingdom Age of Consent?

The Age of Consent in United Kingdom is 16 years old. The age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 15 or younger in United Kingdom are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape or the equivalent local law.

United Kingdom statutory rape law is violated the United Kingdom's member countries and territories each have local laws regarding the age of consent. In all of these areas, the age of consent is currently 16.

United Kingdom has fifteen territories that have their own local age of consent laws. These territories are listed in the following table:

Territory of United Kingdom	Region	Age Of Consent
Anguilla	North America	16
Bermuda and British Virgin Islands	North America	16
Cayman Islands	North America	16
England and Wales	Europe	16
Falkland Islands	South America	16
Gibraltar	Europe	16
Guernsey	Europe	16
Isle of Man	Europe	16
Jersey	Europe	16
Montserrat	North America	16
Northern Ireland	Europe	16
Pitcairn Island	Oceania	16
Saint Helena	Africa	16
Scotland	Europe	16
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands	South America	16

United Kingdom does not have a close-in-age exemption. Close in age exemptions, commonly known as "Romeo and Juliet laws" in the United States, are put in place to prevent the prosecution of individuals who engage in consensual sexual activity when both participants are significantly close in age to each other, and one or both partners are below the age of consent.

Because there is no close-in-age exemption in United Kingdom, it is possible for two individuals both under the age of 16 who willingly engage in intercourse to both be prosecuted for statutory rape, although this is rare. Similarly, no protections are reserved for sexual relations in which one participant is a 15 year old and the second is a 16 or 17 year old.

Age of Consent across the world

The Age of Consent ranges from as low as 11 to as high as 20 years old across the world. Click any country for details, or view countries with the highest & lowest ages of consent.

Age of Consent Map:

Must be married

< 13 years old

14 years old

15 years old

16 years old

17 years old

18 years old

> 19 years old

Back to list of international ages of consent View state ages of consent in the USA