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
Scottish education union calls for entitlement to paid religious leave
Posted: Tue, 12 Jun 2018 15:52
Scotland's oldest teaching union has passed a motion calling for teachers from non-Christian faiths to be given paid leave on their faiths' holy days.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) called on the Scottish Negotiating Council for Teachers (SNCT) to introduce an entitlement to paid leave for religious holidays at its AGM on Saturday. The SNCT is the body which deals with teachers' pay and conditions.
The motion says the SNCT should consider "the need for teachers who are members of faiths other than Christianity to be given a number of days paid leave on their faiths' holy days".
It is not clear whether the motion – which makes no mention of the non-religious – is intended to cover additional or existing annual leave entitlement.
Introducing the motion Sandra Scott, of the union's Edinburgh branch, said she had had a "negative reaction" to requesting time off for religious activities.
Another delegate, Lorna Malarky, said "giving paid leave to teachers and associate professionals who have faith, to participate in their holy days, will lead to much greater rewards." She appeared to blame the non-religious for objecting to additional religious leave specifically for those of other faiths.
Commenting on the proposals, Alastair Lichten, the National Secular Society's education and schools officer said: "While equality protections in the UK are among the strongest in the world, there remains a lot of confusion and inconsistency among employers. All employers have a duty to consider holiday requests fairly and should be vigilant that their annual leave policies do not discriminate (even indirectly) against religious minorities.
"If schools' policies are too inflexible – for example a blanket policy of denying any leave outside of school holidays – then they may indirectly discriminate against non-Christian staff. However, the EIS's suggestion of a blanket policy of favouring religiously motivated leave requests would also be discriminatory. If flexibility can be provided, it should be done so on a non-discriminatory basis.
"We hope no school is unreasonably standing in the way of staff or pupils practising their religion or belief. But equally schools do not have to automatically accommodate every religious request. Public services have a legitimate interest in ensuring they run smoothly, and restrictions on annual leave can be a proportionate means of achieving this.
"Inclusive schools can play a powerful role in challenging religious intolerance, and the EIS are right to point out the contribution of teachers from many different backgrounds. Sadly Scotland's system of denominational schools means that many of the EIS's members face religious discrimination including not being able to apply to some publicly-funded teaching posts without approval by the Catholic Church. If the union is serious about tackling religious intolerance, perhaps this is a better way to start."
Education staff have previously misunderstood equality when it comes to religious leave requests. In 2015 Gateway College in Leicester agreed to change a policy on religious leave after the NSS pointed out it was discriminatory and likely to be unlawful. The policy – which mistakenly claimed the Equality Act only applied "to people who belong to a religion" – gave entitled staff to an additional day's leave only for religious observances.
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.
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)
