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
Eleven inadequate independent faith schools facing closure
Posted: Wed, 4 Jul 2018 12:20
Seven Christian and four Islamic schools were among 26 private schools served with warning notices in the latest round published by the Department for Education (DfE).
The schools will have to improve within a specified period or they will be removed from the independent schools register.
Since February the government has published warning notices to schools deemed to be failing the independent school standards a few months after they were issued. The latest notices reported were issued in February and March.
Some of the schools were found inadequate because of failings directly related to their faith ethos, as well as those relating to health and safety, governance, safeguarding, vetting and monitoring of progress.
At Darul Uloom Leicester, an Islamic faith school for boys aged 11 to 23, inspectors found that "too few students make strong progress in academic subjects other than Islamic studies". The inspection did not cover the school's separate training programme for imams or Islamic theologians.
The Promised Land Academy, a faith school teaching the Accelerated Christian Education programme in east London, the curriculum and range of work were found to be too narrow.
At Kings Kids Christian School in south-east London, the curriculum was found to be "inadequate": "Pupils do not study practical science or develop the skills to collect and evaluate scientific evidence. The creation story is taught in science and there is no evidence that pupils learn scientific theories about the origin of the Earth."
Inspectors also said pupils did not "know enough about other faiths, cultures and different groups of people with the full range of protected characteristics. This means that pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern British society as they could be".
The National Secular Society highlighted concerns about the teaching of the creation story at Kings Kids in February.
At Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahra Schools, an Islamic faith school in north London, inspectors said: "Pupils are not clear about whether or not there are sanctions for talking to or mixing with pupils of the opposite gender during the school day. Some pupils say there are consequences for doing so, others that it does not happen."
There has been a marked increase in independent faith schools failing inspections since the introduction of new independent school standards in 2014, which the NSS supported.
National Secular Society education and schools officer Alastair Lichten said: "Inspections of independent schools need to balance their autonomy with the state's interests in protecting children's rights and well-being. That is what the independent school standards do, that is what inspections do, and that is what so many faith schools are failing to do.
"It is to be hoped that these schools can improve without necessitating closure. However if they are removed from the register of independent schools, then OFSTED, the DfE and local authorities should work together to ensure they do not simply continue operating as unregistered (illegal) schools.
"Whatever school they attend, pupils' futures should not be closed off or their prospects narrowed on account of religion or belief."
In November 2017 12 of the 26 schools the DfE issued notices to were faith schools. The previous month it said six independent Islamic schools had "serious regulatory" failings.
Earlier this year a spokesperson for the NSS said faith schools should be "held to the same standard as those which are not religiously affiliated".
NSS welcomes plan to restrict LGBT ‘conversion therapy’
Posted: Tue, 3 Jul 2018 13:24
The National Secular Society has welcomed a government announcement that it will bring forward proposals to end the practice of LGBT 'conversion therapy' in the UK.
But the NSS criticised the government's failure to mention anti-LGBT sex education in faith schools in its LGBT action plan, which was published on Tuesday.
In the plan the equalities office said it would "fully consider all legislative and non-legislative options to prohibit promoting, offering or conducting conversion therapy".
The government said its intent was to "protect people who are vulnerable to harm or violence, whether that occurs in a medical, commercial or faith-based context".
"We are not prepared to stand idly by as harmful practices such as conversion therapy happen in our country… These activities are wrong, and we are not willing to let them continue."
It added that it was "not trying to prevent LGBT people from seeking legitimate medical support or spiritual support from their faith leader in the exploration of their sexual orientation or gender identity".
Religious groups often advertise gay 'conversion therapy' online using phrases such as "reparative therapy" or "homosexual deliverance". Attempts to reverse LGBT+ sexual orientation are often founded in prayer.
The government's action plan comes in response to a national survey of LGBT+ people which it conducted. Two per cent of respondents to the survey had undergone 'conversion therapy', while a further 5% had been offered and refused types of 'conversion therapy'.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said the government would be right to introduce legislation to restrict conversion therapy.
"These practices are often dressed up with a veneer of scientific evidence, but the evidence clearly shows that they do not work and cause great suffering. If people feel shame or confusion about their sexuality they should be free to consult the religious authorities, but nobody should be given 'therapy' which tells them their identity can be cured."
Attempts to convert LGBT+ people are unsupported by medical evidence. In a consensus statement the UK Council on Psychotherapy says: "There is no good evidence this works and we believe it has the potential to cause harm. Often these approaches are based on religious interpretations about sexuality rather than on a researched and informed understanding of sexual orientation."
In 2009 the American Psychological Association said gay 'conversion therapy' was thought to increase people's suicidal thoughts almost ninefold.
Last year the NSS called on the government to consider banning so-called gay conversion 'therapies' after a Liverpool church encouraged LGBT+ people to starve themselves for long periods.
The government said it would update Sex and Relationships Education guidance to ensure it "supports teaching that is age appropriate and relevant to all pupils, whatever their developing sexual orientation or gender identity". But it made no reference to faith schools teaching sex education through the tenets of their faith.
In May the NSS's Unsafe Sex Education report revealed that more than three-quarters of state-funded secondary faith schools in England were failing to teach Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) impartially. Several schools had policies which said homosexual acts were wrong or homosexuality was "disordered".
The NSS wrote to Damian Hinds, the education secretary, to highlight the findings and to urge him to resist pressure from religious groups for leeway on the teaching of the subject.
NSS research also revealed that all 12 secondary faith schools in Wales which have an SRE policy were teaching the subject within the tenets of Catholicism or the Church in Wales. The revelation came shortly after the Welsh government announced that faith schools would be allowed to continue to deliver the subject in a manner "consistent with their ethos".
Mr Evans called on the government to address this.
"The homophobia promoted by religious authorities appears to be the elephant in the room here. The government says it is committed to improving the lives of LGBT people. That commitment mustn't be undermined for fear of offending religious groups.
"It's crucial that children are given comprehensive sex education which addresses LGBT issues in accordance with scientific evidence rather than religious dogma."
The action plan said the Department for Education would update the statutory guidance on Relationships and Sex Education to support "teaching that is age appropriate and relevant to all pupils, whatever their developing sexual orientation or gender identity".
It said the government would extend "the anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying programme in schools". It added that the Department for Education would "work with the government equalities office to understand how best to support schools" on anti-LGBT bullying. The Crown Prosecution Service will update a pack for schools relating to anti-LGBT hate crime.
The government's survey received 108,000 responses. It was open to anyone who identified as having a minority sexual orientation, gender identity or had variations in sex characteristics.
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)
