Summary

• Shows like Sex Education take unique looks at the teenage experience.
• Sex Education features frank discussions of sexuality and adolescence that other series try to emulate.
• Shows like Sex Education range from '90s classics like Freaks and Geeks to modern miniseries like Looking for Alaska.

While many fans were sad to see the series end, there are several series like Sex Education that they can watch. Sex Education is a brilliant and hilarious dive into what it means to be a young person struggling with the realities of their budding sexuality. The show follows Otis and Maeve as they work to set up a healthy environment for their peers to discuss the complexities of relationships and address any questions that they may have. Even with the wild premise, there are shows like Sex Education that deliver a similar tone on the same subjects.

Sex Education is as informative as it is hysterical, so viewers can see how someone would be looking for more. Sex Education season 4 marked the end of the show despite its strong popularity. Thankfully, there are plenty of shows like Sex Education available on multiple streaming platforms to fill that void. Whether it's the complex relationships of teenagers and young adults or the well-timed comedic moments that blend perfectly into the main story, one of these shows is bound to please any Sex Education fans.

30 Schitt's Creek

(2015-2020)

The show has a very different premise as it follows a wealthy family of somewhat self-absorbed people who are forced to move to a small town after losing everything.

Like Sex Education, Schitt's Creek was an acclaimed series that didn't overstay its welcome, deciding to conclude its story after its Emmy-winning sixth season. The show has a very different premise as it follows a wealthy family of somewhat self-absorbed people who are forced to move to a small town after losing everything. The Rose family have all of their assets seized by the government and are forced to move into a motel in a small town, adjusting to life as of the working class, rebuilding their relationships with one another along the way.

The Schitt's Creek cast makes for a wonderful ensemble with hilarious and layered characters. The show also deals with sexuality in an open and honest way and is willing to show fan-favorite relationships that end up not working out. As an added bonus, star Daniel Levy also appears in Sex Education season 4.

29 Heartstopper

(2022- )

Inspired by the graphic novel of the same name, like Sex Education, Heartstopper is a story set among British teenagers just trying to find their way among their classmates. Both series feature the characters learning about their own sexualities, mental health, and experiencing first love. Heartstopper doesn’t have as many episodes available for the audience to stream on Netflix just yet, but the series is still in production.

While Hearstopper is generally considered a more “cozy” show among teen series or coming-of-age stories, both shows do feature plenty of drama and serious moments as well. While both series are also known for their impressive talent among the teen characters, it also has to be noted that they have fantastic talent among their adult characters as well. Heartstopper has the likes of Olivia Colman and Sex Education has Gillian Anderson.

28 Atypical

(2017-2021)

While Sex Education focuses on the sexual awakening of its main characters, Atypical focuses on a teenager with autism surrounded by neurotypical individuals and what that experience is like. It’s a coming-of-age story in the vein of Sex Education, but particular care is made to tell the story from a unique perspective.

It has to be recognized that the producers heard the criticisms about Atypical following the release of the first season and strived to correct their mistakes. Though the show is about a teenager on the autism spectrum, those directly involved in the first season (writers, actors, etc.) were not and didn’t have any experience living life in that world. The show addressed complaints directly by hiring writers and actors on the autism spectrum beginning with season 2, making sure they could provide representation for those who might see themselves in the show, but also to make the storylines more authentic.

27 Young Royals

(2021-2024)

Like Sex Education and so many of the shows like it, Young Royals is a coming-of-age story as well. In this case, however, the story about growing up isn’t set in Wales at a normal school, but instead, in Sweden at a fictional boarding school for children of the elite, including, as the title would suggest, royalty.

It’s the royalty angle that truly makes the series different than something like Sex Education. The two main characters falling in love are not allowed to be out publicly initially because they are male and one of them is the Swedish Prince. Much of the conflict in the series is rooted in just what someone does for the person they love and how far they are willing to go - or how much of themselves they are willing to hide. It makes for an even more dramatic tale of teenage life than Sex Education because of the heightened circumstances.

26 Heartbreak High

(2022- )

Instead of Wales, Heartbreak High takes the international audience for the series to Australia. The 2022 series is a soft reboot of the previous show of the same name, which aired on Australian television in the mid-1990s. Teen angst is the thrust of the show as the main characters experience the growing pains of modern society.

Just as Sex Education kicks off with the main characters desiring to have frank discussions about sexuality and their own bodies, Heartbreak High kicks off with a similar idea about sex, but in a much more public way. Here, a map graffitied on a wall that details all of the sexual encounters of the students at their high school is discovered, and all of the students named are forced to take sex education classes. From there, the show dovetails into romance, racial and social tension, and of course, growing up.

25 Everything Now

(2023)

Everything Now is another British series aimed at teens, but it didn’t have the long run that Sex Education did. Instead, with just one season of eight episodes, it’s a relatively quick watch. Like Sex Education, the show deals with the complicated nature of being a teenager and struggling to fit in, but it also adds the pressure of the main character being in recovery from anorexia.

Everything Now is a more realistic portrayal of disordered eating among teens than those that Hollywood usually depicts. It doesn’t go for the shock value of thin frames or binge-eating, but instead, focuses on the story of how one teenage girl struggles with her own mental health in the wake of her diagnosis and treatment and just how she fits in with those around her who have seemingly all moved on with their lives and hit major teenage milestones while she was in treatment.

Everything Now is as much a series about mental health and growing up as it is about the need to “catch up” to more experienced peers.

24 Fleabag

(2016-2019)

Phoebe Waller-Bridge created one of the most acclaimed television shows of the 21st century with the original and impactful Fleabag. The series was nominated for a slew of prestigious awards during its run, from the Critics Choice to the BAFTAs to the Primetime Emmys. Fleabag won the 2020 Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy as well.

Waller-Bridge stars in Fleabag as a young woman living in London who navigates her various sexual experiences and dysfunctional family dynamics while holding onto some darker secrets. In particular, her relationship with Andrew Scott, The Priest, and her ability to convincingly break the fourth wall, entertained audiences. The show is another honest series about sex while also looking at the trauma, mistakes, and anxieties associated with it. Like Sex Education, moments of laugh-out-loud humor are mixed with profoundly human moments as well.

23 Never Have I Ever

(2020-2023)

Like Sex Education, Never Have I Ever season 5 won't be happening with the teen Netflix series deciding to end while it is still believable that the characters are in high school. The show is another series looking at the complications and challenges of growing up in a modern high school setting. It follows the main character Devi as she attempts to capture the teen experiences she feels that she is missing out on.

The show follows Sex Education's formula of touching on real teen issues, including anxiety about sex, bullying, and different sexual identities while still feeling like a personal and entertaining journey of this young woman. The first season focuses on how Devil deals with the grief of losing her father, and the show gradually expands into those other teen issues, including what happens as high school comes to an end and teens find themselves figuring out how to move on.

22 Derry Girls

(2018-2022)

The high school experiences of teens in a modern English school are very different from the experiences of teens at a Catholic school in 1990s Ireland, yet Sex Education fans will find a lot to like about Derry Girls. The show follows the titular group of female friends (including their one male friend) as they navigate dating, school work, and drama with their parents while living in a tumultuous time in Ireland.

The show is more of a straight-forward comedy than Sex Education with big laughs coming from the colorful characters even though it is set during The Troubles. Even while Erin is dealing with a crush on a boy or getting detention, her parents are watching news of bombings not far from home. There are also poignant moments that feel universal and relatable to anyone who has gone through these awkward and formative years.

21 Degrassi: The Next Generation

(2001-2015)

Shows about teenagers exploring their sexuality are nothing new to the world of television though nobody seems to do it better than Sex Education.

Shows about teenagers exploring their sexuality are nothing new to the world of television, though nobody seems to do it better than Sex Education. However, credit must be given to Degrassi: The Next Generation, which did this in a groundbreaking way in the early 2000s. The show tackled serious topics and featured many LGBTQ+ characters, just like Sex Education.

Also, like the Netflix series, it helped launch the careers of many talented stars from Nina Dobrev to Cassie Steele to Drake. The Degrassi HBO Max revival was too different from the original show by some measures and received a mixed response, but this reboot of the original Canadian series hit the mark. It was able to incorporate characters from the original series without making it necessary for the new audience to watch the original series.