We want to see laws requiring schools to hold acts of worship abolished.
The laws are archaic, unnecessary and breach children's freedom of religion or belief.
The United Kingdom is the only Western democracy which legally imposes worship in publicly funded schools.
The law in England and Wales provides that children at all maintained schools "shall on each school day take part in an act of collective worship". Northern Ireland and Scotland have similar laws.
Even in schools with no religious designation, the worship must be "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
School assemblies are an important feature of school life. They foster a sense of community in schools and promote the moral and social development of pupils. But acts of worship are neither necessary nor desirable to achieve these educational goals.
Polling has found 70% of senior teachers "disagree" or "strongly disagree" with the law mandating worship, and 66% of teachers say their school does not even hold collective worship.
The majority of the public (52%) say school assemblies should be about moral issues, whereas just 26% agree that they should feature religious worship.
Many schools ignore the law, but where it is enforced it causes division and discrimination, as well as opening the door to evangelism and proselytising.
Parents have the right to withdraw children from collective worship, but many this is an unreasonable imposition on both themselves and their children. Parents should never have to withdraw their children from any part of the school day to ensure their rights to raise their child according to their own religious or philosophical convictions are respected.
Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and increasingly, no religious beliefs. The abolition of collective worship is long overdue.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask them to help end compulsory worship in schools
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
British public opposes religious influence in education, poll finds
Posted: Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:44
British adults are strongly opposed to religious influence in school admissions, assemblies and the teaching of Religious Education, a National Secular Society-commissioned poll has found.
The survey found that fewer than one in six British adults agree with religious selection in state schools generally. Fewer than one in three support it even when they are specifically asked about faith schools.
Just 17% of respondents said they agreed with the statement: "Publicly funded schools should be able to select pupils on the grounds of their religious beliefs". Even when the question said "faith schools should be able to select pupils on the grounds of their religious beliefs" just 29% agreed.
Support for religious selection in schools was not much higher than support for hypothetical political selection in schools. Thirteen per cent of respondents agreed that "publicly funded schools should be able to select pupils on the grounds of their parents' political beliefs".
A majority (52%) say school assemblies should be about moral issues, whereas just over a quarter (26%) agree that they should feature religious worship.
And just 14% of respondents disagreed with the statement: "State-funded faith schools should be obligated to teach RE in a way that is inclusive of all religious and non-religious belief systems".
The findings suggest education policy across Britain is out of step with the views of the public.
Last month the education secretary Damian Hinds announced that he would not lift the 50% faith-based admissions cap on new free schools in England, following NSS campaigning. But he announced a new wave of voluntary-aided schools, which will allow religious groups to open schools which can select 100% of their pupils on a religious basis.
In recent weeks the Scottish government has committed to the future of state-funded Catholic education, while the Welsh government has said religious schools will continue to be allowed to teach sex education according to their faith ethos.
In response to the poll campaigners including NSS chief executive Stephen Evans and honorary associate Peter Tatchell have called for a rollback of religion's role in state schools.
Mr Evans said the findings showed that "our current education system simply does not align with the views of the public when it comes to religion's role".
"Most people take a much more secular stance and don't want children to be exposed to overbearing religious influence in their schools. It is impossible to imagine a system in which state schools were allowed to select pupils on the basis of whether their parents shared the same political views. That should be the case for religion too – and very similar proportions of people agree with religious selection as political selection.
"We were pleased to see the education secretary decide against lifting the cap on faith school entry recently. However, this does not cover voluntary-aided faith schools and we would urge against any future attempt to increase selection by religion through the back door.
"The National Secular Society is proud to campaign for a fair and inclusive education system and it is pleasing to see that these values are reflected across the wider public. In particular, Religious Education and Sex & Relationships Education teaching must be consistent across all schools, ensuring all children gain a comprehensive and impartial grounding in religious and ethical issues."
Mr Tatchell told us: "To ensure a cohesive and harmonious society, it is more important than ever that our children can enjoy a diverse and fair education, with the opportunity to learn from each other's differences. Government policy should reflect the low level of public support for religious selection in state-funded schools. I am proud to support the National Secular Society's campaign for an inclusive education system."
The NSS campaigns to roll back religious influence in schools. We recently launched our No More Faith Schools campaign. We also champion an end to end compulsory worship in schools and call for all children to be entitled to an impartial curriculum about religion and belief issues.
The company Censuswide carried out the poll of 2,003 British adults.
Welsh AMs to probe whether collective worship is compliant with human rights law
Posted: Thu, 29 Jun 2017 08:09
Two Welsh school students who launched a petition demanding the removal of the obligation on state schools to hold acts of worship have won support from a committee of AMs.
The Welsh Assembly petitions committee has undertaken to write to the Education Secretary asking her to look at whether the legal requirement on mainstream schools to hold collective acts of worship is compatible with human rights laws.
The students, Rhiannon Shipton and Lily McAllister-Sutton, launched a petition calling on Welsh Assembly Members to end the obligation on schools to hold collective worship after becoming increasingly frustrated by being forced to say prayers against their will.
The pair said they were "delighted" that the petition was to be acted upon.
Rhiannon Shipton, 15, told the NSS: "Members of the Committee understand that this is a human rights issue. No-one should be forced to pray. Lily and I are very grateful to everyone who has supported our petition and hope it will lead to real change."
Committee member Neil McEvoy said: "It is really great to see young people engage in politics and taking an interest today in the public gallery. I think it is right to progress this petition."
Committee chairman David Rowlands said: "[We will] write to the Cabinet Secretary for Education to ask whether the Welsh Government will consider reviewing the current law and guidelines surrounding collective worship and if any consideration has been given to the compatibility of the current requirements with human right law as the first question."
The move was also welcomed by the National Secular Society, which has long campaigned for the legal requirement on schools in England and Wales to hold a daily act of collective worship to be abolished.
In 2016, the Cabinet Secretary for Education in Wales, Kirsty Williams, told the NSS that a review of collective worship in Wales could be undertaken once the ongoing curriculum reform has been completed.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said "The curriculum reforms currently being undertaken in Wales provide the ideal context to rethink this hopelessly anachronistic imposition on schools. The Welsh government should seize this opportunity to ensure that all aspects of the school day, including assemblies, are respectful and inclusive of all pupils. That means an end to compulsory worship."
Last year, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the UK to abolish compulsory worship in schools and ensure students are given the independent right of withdrawal from any worship that does take place.
In 2015 senior academics warned of "significant concerns" about the imposition of collective worship in non-religious schools – arguing that it may violate the right to freedom of religion and belief.
