Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.
There are many more subjects children and young people need to learn.
It's time to replace RE with something more appropriate for 21st century students.
It is important for children and young people to learn about different religions and beliefs. But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).
Surveys consistently show RE is one of the least popular school subjects, an indication of its increasing irrelevance.
58% of British adults think religious studies is unimportant at secondary schools. And a quarter of England's secondary schools do not offer RE.
Unlike any other compulsory subject, RE is determined at a local level in England. In each local authority the agreed syllabus for RE is determined by committees representing the Church of England and other religion and belief groups, as well as the local authority and teacher's groups.
As a result, schools not only face a local lottery regarding what their RE syllabus will contain; they will have to teach a subject under significant control from religious interest groups. These groups are strongly motivated to ensure their religion is represented in an overwhelmingly positive light. The current arrangements mean the subject lacks objectivity.
Many faith schools don't even need to follow the locally agreed syllabus and can instead teach religion from their own exclusive viewpoint.
A new nationally-determined civics and citizenship subject could encompass teaching about religious and nonreligious worldviews and allow students to consider moral and ethical issues. Religion and belief could also be explored in other relevant areas of the curriculum.
In Wales, RE has recently been replaced with Religions, Values and Ethics (RVE). While we welcome this broader and more inclusive subject, problems remain regarding the influence of religious groups and exceptions allowing faith schools to teach confessional RE.
We need a reformed subject to ensure education about religion and belief is broad, balanced and proportionate.
We've created a series of resources – Exploring Secularism – for anyone wishing to explore issues of religion, belief, ethics, and worldviews in schools. The resources aim to provide teachers with the material they need to engage with secularism in an informed way.
As British society considers how to respond to greater religious diversity and growing irreligiosity, it is become increasingly important for children and young people to develop their understanding of the interaction between religion, society, and politics. The study of secularism explores this interaction, together with questions about how we balance freedom of, and from, religion with other rights.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Support our campaign to ensure every pupil has the same entitlement to high quality, non-partisan education about religious and non-religious worldviews.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join us
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
RE needs “strategic, urgent intervention”, says independent report
Posted: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 12:05
Religious education in England faces "a perilous future" unless it is subject to "strategic, urgent intervention", according to a report from an independent commission published today.
Religious Education for All, an interim report from the Commission on Religious Education, says changing patterns of religious and non-religious belief "present a requirement to ensure that RE's structures reflect the realities of contemporary society". The current system of RE provision was founded in 1944.
The Commission calls for a national entitlement for RE and said the subject should cover non-religious worldviews as well as religious ones. "RE in schools should enable students to engage in an intelligent and informed way with the ideas, practices and contemporary manifestations of a diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews," it says.
The Commission's recommendations have been broadly welcomed by the National Secular Society, which is currently advocating for reform of RE through its '21st Century For All' campaign.
NSS campaigns director, Stephen Evans, said: "This report hopefully heralds a welcome rethink about the way religion is taught in schools. We hope the Government will take note.
"Whilst we welcome the recommendation of a national entitlement, a big question remains as to who will translate that entitlement into a detailed programme of study. Getting this right is key to the subject's future.
"Every pupil should have the same entitlement to high quality, non-partisan education about religious and non-religious worldviews. In order to achieve that it is vital that religious interest groups no longer enjoy privileged and undue influence over what gets taught.
"We look forward to working with the Commission to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to learn about a diversity of worldviews, irrespective of the type of school they attend."
The NSS submitted evidence to the commission calling for all pupils to have equal access to a balanced curriculum on religion and belief, covering a broad spectrum of human ideas and thought.
It added that faith schools' ability to teach their own confessional syllabus should end. The report makes clear that the national entitlement should be for all pupils at all state-funded schools, including faith schools.
The report says schools should be held to account for their provision of RE and required to publish details explaining how they met the national entitlement. It says there should be a national plan to "improve teaching and learning" in RE.
It also recommends a renewed role for standing advisory councils on religious education (SACREs), local bodies which oversee RE provision, in "promoting and supporting" the subject and in "promoting good community relations". However, the Commission will consult further with regard to who should be responsible for curriculum design.
The NSS has previously criticised the role of SACREs and called for an end to the 'postcode lottery' of local determination of the curriculum.
The commission says it was "impressed by the evidence of high quality and innovative approaches to RE that were presented during our consultations". But it adds that its participants were "unanimous in the view that RE faces a perilous future without strategic, urgent intervention". Examination entries in the subject fell in 2017, and the report notes that "many who gave evidence saw this as a sign of further decline in years to come".
It lists a series of significant challenges facing the subject. Quality and provision are inconsistent and increasing numbers of schools do not even meet basic legal requirements. Academisation and funding cuts mean it is increasingly unsuitable to determine syllabuses via local authorities. Headteachers are not encouraged to view RE as a high-status subject. Worthwhile support and training are diminishing.
The report also considers whether the name of the subject should be changed, to signify the "renewed vision for the subject". Ideas considered include 'religion and ethics', 'religion, philosophy and ethics', and 'religions and worldviews'. The Commission, which says it has published the interim report to give "as many people and organisations as possible" the chance to engage with its "developing thoughts", will consult further on this.
Schools sidelining RE, survey finds
Posted: Sun, 17 Sep 2017 07:21
The National Secular Society has called for a 'fundamental rethink' about religious education after new research revealed that a quarter of England's secondary schools are not offering the subject to their students.
The data has been gathered by the National Association for RE Teachers – who say they are increasingly concerned about the lack of provision, which is a statutory requirement.
They say that academies are struggling more than local authority schools – with 34% not offering RE to 11 to 13 year olds and 44% not offering it for 14 to 16 year olds.
National Secular Society campaigns director, Stephen Evans, said the findings should prompt a "fundamental rethink" of the subject. "If so many schools aren't valuing this supposedly compulsory subject, that tells you that it either shouldn't be compulsory at all or that it needs serious reform", he said.
"The credibility of RE is seriously undermined by its content being decided locally, primarily by faith representatives. With its unclear purpose, archaic structure and vestiges of confessionalism, it's little wonder schools are sidelining it.
"Fundamental reform is needed to ensure that all pupils have the same entitlement to high quality and non-partisan education about a diversity of religious and other beliefs. Importantly, faith schools must lose their ability to teach a narrow version of RE from their own faith perspective. No school should be permitted to use the subject to enforce a specific religious doctrine.
"Organised religion's undue influence over this area of the curriculum is stymieing progress and denying young people the rounded, objective and relevant education they should be entitled to."
Under the existing legal framework, faith schools are permitted to teach subject in accordance with the tenets of their particular faith. Most non-religious schools follow a locally agreed syllabus which is determined by committees largely made up of faith representatives. Academies, however, are free of local authority control and can also choose their own RE curriculum.
The NSS said the findings add weight to its campaign for a 21st Century RE For All.
The campaign aims to ensure that every pupil has the same entitlement to high quality, non-partisan education about religion and belief which teaches students about the diversity of religious and non-religious worldviews.
The NSS says it wants to end the arbitrariness and unfairness of 'local determination', and for the subject content to be taken out of the hands of "vested interests". It instead wants to see national framework for religion and belief learning, devised by educationalists without a religious agenda.
"Such learning need not take place in subject in a subject called "religious education'', said Mr Evans.
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