This article reviews existing evidence and debates in relation to young people and sexual exploitation in the light of new empirical evidence generated through primary research. This research explored the types of sexual exploitation that practitioners had worked with in the preceding year and Local Safeguarding Children Boards’ responses to young people's sexual exploitation. The findings indicate that there may be several models of sexual exploitation operating simultaneously in any particular area, and the article therefore suggests that the discourse on young people's sexual exploitation that has dominated policy and practice for more than a decade in the UK requires reconsideration to account for the complex forms of sexual exploitation young people experience in the 21st century. The paper suggests that, in order to provide young people with the most appropriate support, practice responses need to be developed from the concrete conditions in which young people are subject to sexual exploitation, rather than applying abstract ‘models’ that fail to capture the lived experience of the young people concerned. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘There may be several modes of sexual exploitation operating simultaneously’ Key Practitioner Messages There is confusion in relation to identifying child sexual exploitation.Several models of child sexual exploitation may be operating simultaneously in any one place and at any one time.Practitioners need to account for the agency and decision‐making process of young people when working with those who are sexually exploited. ‘There is confusion in relation to identifying child sexual exploitation’