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
Ofsted: curriculum at Jewish school restricted pupils’ development
Posted: Fri, 18 May 2018 15:42
An independent faith school in north London is facing deregistration and may close after inspectors said it was reducing its secular curriculum and not preparing students for life in modern Britain.
Getters Talmud Torah is an independent orthodox Jewish boys' school in Stamford Hill. Open six days a week, it teaches a secular curriculum for "at least an hour a day", with all other teaching time devoted to faith education.
According to the latest report published by Ofsted, "Pupils' personal development is restricted by the narrow curriculum" and "They do not learn enough about culture, belief and lifestyles beyond their own community." The report found that the school's secular curriculum had been reduced with the agreement of parents, despite inspectors noting that the school did not have a legal basis to do so. This included aspects specifically required by the Independent School Standards.
While the report found pupils learned about the importance of contributing to their own community, it said they were not prepared to participate in wider society and were "inadequately prepared for their future lives in modern Britain".
In March the National Secular Society reported that Charedi rabbis from across the country met in Nottingham in an attempt to agree a common front against requirements to teach respect and tolerance under equality law.
Education and schools officer Alastair Lichten said reports that "nearly all parents" had insisted inspectors not speak to their child or ask them any questions were "disturbing".
"In oversight of independent faith schools a balance has to be struck between the freedom of those who have opted out of the state system and protecting children's rights. Where there are failings in safeguarding putting children's welfare at risk, where equality law is being breached and where children are being taught a narrow curriculum preparing them not for life in modern Britain, but only for membership in a religious community, the Department for Education must act.
"In this school significant inadequacies have been identified across multiple inspections since it opened, culminating in this latest report. It's right that Ofsted attempts to work constructively with schools to address shortcomings, but a decade of failure has let children down.
"Independent faith schools need to be held accountable, which is why we supported the introduction of new independent school standards in 2014/15."
Last year analysis by Schools Week showed that Ofsted had repeatedly failed dozens of independent faith schools since the standards were introduced. Recently published letters have revealed that the DfE warned 23 independent faith schools they were failing to meet the standards expected of them between September and November 2017.
The DfE is currently consulting on a new policy statement on regulatory and enforcement action taken by the department for independent schools not meeting those standards.
NSS: joint campus rows show need to secularise Scottish education
Posted: Thu, 17 May 2018 15:01
The National Secular Society has said calls for children to be segregated on joint campuses have "shown the need to take education in Scotland out of religious control".
Two councils are considering opening shared campuses between non-denominational primary schools and Catholic ones to the south of Glasgow. The Catholic Church has voiced opposition to one of the plans and said segregating children would help to alleviate its concerns.
North Lanarkshire Council is planning to build a campus in the village of Newmains, which would host Newmains Primary School and St Brigid's Primary School. A consultation report on the proposal was presented to the council's education committee on Wednesday.
This week the Catholic Church's Diocese of Motherwell expressed opposition to the plan, arguing that "the shared campus model inevitably results in a dilution of the unique ethos of the Catholic school".
In a report the diocese asked the council to extend "flexibility" to St Brigid's.
"Crucifixes, statues and other elements of iconography have a significant role in creating and sustaining the Catholic ethos and this should be evident in all areas of the school building. The experience of shared campuses in North Lanarkshire has been that all such areas have been required to be totally neutral and free of Catholic iconography."
The diocese also called for children to be segregated when joint campuses are built. "Some of these difficulties could be mitigated by the provision of totally separate entrances to the two schools rather than, as has been the case up until now, a common entrance hall leading to two separate wings," it said.
Meanwhile East Renfrewshire Council will hold a public consultation on a proposal to open a shared campus in Neilston, between Neilston Primary School and St Thomas' Primary School. The council is considering its options after both schools' conditions were ranked as 'poor' and the schools were found to have a repairs backlog of more than £2.6m.
The council's head of education services, Fiona Morrison, said "careful consideration would be given to the views of the Catholic Church". And the director of education, Mhairi Shaw, said this week that tackling sectarianism "would never be a priority or condition for us" in building the campus.
Some councils have previously acceded to the Catholic Church's demands for segregation. In 2014 West Dumbartonshire Council accepted plans for separate entrances at a joint primary school campus.
Last year East Renfrewshire opened a joint campus featuring a Catholic primary school, a Jewish primary school and a non-denominational nursery class. The NSS criticised the measure as bringing "segregation under one roof". The schools have separate entrances.
In other instances the church has asked for separate staff toilets, staff rooms, nurseries and gyms.
Most schools in Scotland are non-denominational or Catholic. Non-denominational schools are run by local councils. Each council education committee retains at least three places for religious nominees, under legislation dating back to 1929 and beyond. In most parts of Scotland this includes at least one representative of the Catholic Church and one from the Church of Scotland.
Social segregation has tended to mean children from Protestant backgrounds go to non-denominational schools, while those from Catholic backgrounds usually go to Catholic schools.
The NSS has long been calling on the Scottish government to roll back religious influence in education, including as part of its No More Faith Schools campaign.
Alastair Lichten, the NSS's education and schools officer, said the plans and the reaction to them "highlight the ridiculous situation created by religious influence in Scotland's schools".
"Even if councils do wish to tackle the religious segregation of children, their hands are largely tied. So-called shared campuses just change the nature of religious discrimination and segregation.
"Schools should not entrench sectarianism. The Scottish government needs to be bold and wrest control of education away from religious interests, so that decisions can be made purely on the basis of what is in the interests of children and wider society."
The consultation in East Renfrewshire will run until 26 June.
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)
