Faith schools undermine equality, choice and social cohesion.
Let's build an inclusive education system today, to ensure an inclusive society tomorrow.
Our education system should be open and welcoming to all. That's why we want publicly funded faith schools phased out and an end to religiously selective school admissions.
Around a third of publicly funded schools in England and Wales are faith schools – schools with a religious character. Scottish and Northern Irish schools are still divided along sectarian lines.
Separating children according to religion is divisive and leads to religious, ethnic and socio-economic segregation.
To make matters worse, many faith schools can discriminate against pupils and teachers who do not share the religion of the school.
Parents are entitled to raise their children within a faith tradition, but they are not entitled to enlist the help of the state to do so. The state should not allow the schools it funds to inculcate children into a particular religion.
Faith schools seriously limit choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of the local school. Our research has found that 18,000 families were assigned faith schools against their wishes in England in 2017 alone.
Despite a consistent and dramatic decline in church attendance, and a growing majority of non-religious citizens, successive governments have paved the way for ever greater religious involvement in education, often to the detriment of inclusive community schools.
A secular approach to education would ensure publicly funded schools are equally welcoming to all children, regardless of their backgrounds.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Please call on your MP to support a secular, inclusive education system for all.
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
Adjudicator: faith schools may insist families are strictly religious
Posted: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 14:43
England's schools adjudicator has said it is "reasonable" for two state-funded Orthodox Jewish schools to expect the families of applicants to observe strict religious practices.
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) has ordered two Orthodox Jewish schools in north London to make changes to their admissions codes, which severely regulate students' families' lives. But it said restrictions on families' behaviour could be justified as religious requirements provided they were clearly laid out.
The rulings affected Pardes House Primary in Barnet and The Avigdor Hirsch Torah Temimah Primary School in Brent. At both schools the admissions codes require that families live Orthodox lives as defined by the Shulchan Aruch – a 16th century religious text of over 600 chapters which covers all areas of life.
The restrictions they place on family life include gender specific modesty codes and prohibitions on LGBT relationships, make-up, computers, televisions and phones.
Pardes House requires applying families to demonstrate they observe "Orthodox Jewish practice" in their "lifestyle and daily practice". Avigdor Hirsch Torah Temimah says its "overriding consideration" in admissions is "commitment to the practice of Orthodox Judaism".
The OSA ruled that it was "reasonable for a school of that religious character to expect the families of applicants for places to be committed to adhere to its requirements". It ordered changes only on the basis that the schools' ways of checking adherence to the requirements were not clear, objective or transparent.
The adjudicator said phrases such as "highly attractive" and "eye-catching" were not permitted only because the language did not "provide an objective standard". It also found it would not be possible for a rabbi to "objectively" confirm whether an applying family was meeting all of the requirements.
Avigdor Hirsch Torah Temimah was found to have breached the admissions code by prioritising families where the father is a full-time rabbinical student or a rabbi in an approved synagogue. This was found to prioritise children based on the educational or employment status of their parents, and to select on parental activities which had not been "laid out" as religious activities.
The school also agreed to remove prioritisations for families that could financially support the school or associated charities.
Pardes House was found to have breached the code by requiring a certificate of Jewish marriage which did not have a "direct bearing on decisions about oversubscription criteria". The requirement that families be members of an approved synagogue was also found to be in breach. Membership is typically paid and the OSA ruled that it did not have "a direct bearing" on decisions about oversubscription criteria.
The National Secular Society's education and schools officer Alastair Lichten called the adjudicator's reports "deeply concerning".
"These are state funded schools using their admissions as a tool for an ideology of total segregation from wider society and complete control of family life. Such efforts to rigidly control young people's life experiences and impose upon those who do not even attend the school should have no place in education.
"It's alarming that relatively minor tweaks to these extreme admissions rules could see them pass the lacklustre admissions code.
"This is also an indictment of successive governments' decisions to organise education around religious identities. The adjudicator would not need to make these absurd accommodations if we rolled back state faith schools."
Both of the schools affected are voluntary aided faith schools, meaning they may make their own admissions arrangements provided they are within the admissions code. All of their running costs are publically funded.
Last month the government announced funding for a wave of new voluntary aided faith schools across England.
Both of the schools affected in this case were oversubscribed, with Pardes House Primary School apparently admitting double its published admission numbers.
Mr Lichten said: "The apparent gap between their official capacity and target numbers in their prospectuses could indicate a deliberate effort to keep the school 'oversubscribed' in order to ensure a totally religiously homogenous student body."
Where faith schools are undersubscribed, they must admit pupils of any faith. This can lead to families being assigned minority faith schools when they do not want them in otherwise oversubscribed areas.
The NSS runs the No More Faith Schools campaign and campaigns for an end to discriminatory admissions arrangements so that all schools are open to children of all faiths backgrounds and none.
In August the OSA delivered a similar ruling in the case of Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School in north London. The adjudicator said the school was not breaching the admissions code by requiring families not to wear leather or lycra, access the internet or use online entertainment.
Government warnings for five failing independent faith schools
Posted: Fri, 30 Nov 2018 09:44
Three Islamic schools and two Jewish schools are among nine independent schools which were issued with warning notices from the Department for Education in October.
The notices came after Ofsted inspectors reported significant failings including narrow curricula, redaction of textbooks, gender segregation and safeguarding concerns.
At Yeshivah Ohr Torah School, a Jewish boys' school in Salford in Lancashire, inspectors said the curriculum was "solely based" on Jewish studies. There was no secular curriculum. Opportunities to learn other subjects were "sporadic and limited" and arose only when they were relevant to Jewish studies.
All lessons were taught in Yiddish, with only "limited opportunities" for students to learn how to speak, read and write in English.
Ofsted's report on the school said the curriculum had been revised apparently based on parental preferences and parents had withdrawn consent for inspectors to talk to their sons.
The inspectors' criticisms of the school were featured in a report in the Manchester Evening News last week.
At Beis Chinuch Lebonos Girls School, a Jewish school in north London, inspectors said leaders had restricted the curriculum, particularly in science.
The school had officially banned references to reproduction and evolution and inspectors said its practice of redaction was "far more widespread than this" in practice. Leaders had redacted photographs of men and women with bare skin, information on animals, the properties of rocks and the dangers of alcohol.
In a library for younger pupils the school had covered up or removed information on animals, countries and the universe.
Parents only gave inspectors permission to speak to pupils on the condition that they did not ask questions about subjects such as reproduction, sexting and different lifestyles.
Beis Chinuch was previously rated 'outstanding', while Yeshivah Ohr was previously graded 'good'.
Inspectors also raised concerns about safety at Beis Chinuch and Leicester International School, which is Islamic. Leicester International was also warned about its quality of teaching and leadership.
Leicester International was not criticised over its uniform policy, which requires girls to wear the hijab.
Al-Furqaan Preparatory School, an Islamic faith school in Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, was criticised for the quality of its teaching and leadership.
When inspectors visited in July the school was also segregating children by gender for English and Maths in years five and six, a practice that was ruled unlawful at the High Court last year. The school's leaders told inspectors they planned to end the practice in September.
Ofsted also identified problems with leadership and safeguarding at Darul Uloom London, an Islamic school in south-east London.
The school was not criticised over its enforcement of a strictly Islamic uniform or its policy of expelling children who miss prayers, which take place five times per day.
Earlier this year the Charity Commission launched an investigation into Darul Uloom after its safeguarding lead and headteacher were arrested in relation to firearms offences.
Alastair Lichten, the National Secular Society's education and schools officer, called the warnings "a reminder that children's rights must be protected in any educational setting".
"The government is right to make an effort to hold independent schools to account when they undermine those rights.
"We respect the autonomy of the parents and schools in the independent sector. But this must be balanced against children's fundamental right to receive an education worthy of the name. When schools censor textbooks, prevent children from learning about basic science or fail to maintain a safe environment it is right for the state to step in.
"When 'schools' restrict children's knowledge and leave them unprepared for the language and realities of the country they live in, they are robbing those children of autonomy and their right to an open future.
"We're concerned that a narrow focus on extreme examples means schools which require children to adhere to strict religious practices are not always being criticised for them. We shouldn't accept that schools can force girls to wear religious clothing or children to pray at regular intervals."
Since the introduction of new independent school standards in 2014, which the NSS supported, there has been a marked increase in independent faith schools failing inspections. In May the NSS supported revisions to the standards.
More information
Protect relationships and sex education
Age-appropriate relationships and sex education should be every child’s right.
Remove religious appointees from Scottish councils
Religion shouldn’t grant people privileged places in local democracy.
Research and reports
The faith schools research bank
The choice delusion: how faith schools restrict school choice
Three in ten families across England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools and thousands are being assigned faith schools against their wishes.
Power grab: Academisation and the threat to secular education
Academisation has enabled faith groups to increase their influence over all schools, including those with no religious character. With little public debate, religious governance has increased, while secular oversight has diminished.
Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools
Faith based inspections of state schools are an unnecessary drain on public finds, frame widely held values as exclusive, and promote biased religious education.
Faith-shaped holes: How religious privilege is undermining equality law (PDF, 1.3 Mb)
