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
18,000 children sent to faith schools against parental preference
Posted: Mon, 9 Apr 2018 16:49
More than 18,000 children were sent to state faith schools against their parents' preferences in England this year, an exclusive analysis by the National Secular Society has found.
An NSS study of Department for Education admissions data found that 14% of families who missed out on their first choice of a non-faith school were assigned a faith school in September 2017. The figure included 9,927 admissions to secondary schools and 8,126 to primaries.
The data also showed that the supply of faith-based state primary schools (37%) is significantly ahead of demand (29%). Seventy-one per cent of primary parents put non-faith schools as their first choice this year, while the figure was 81% at secondary level.
NSS education and schools officer Alastair Lichten said: "We've long dealt with the problem of families losing out on their choice of local school due to discriminatory admissions. But the other side of that coin is that we are increasingly hearing from families with no choice but a faith school.
"This situation is exacerbated by the increasingly non-religious population, unpopular – and therefore undersubscribed – minority faith schools, school amalgamation biasing against secular schools and a lack of secular provision in rural communities.
"It's unacceptable that so many children are being given a faith-based education when their parents do not even want it for them. The government must take steps to address this."
In January the NSS asked the government to introduce "a positive duty on decision makers to ensure that every child has the right to a suitable secular school free from discrimination within a reasonable distance". The society's letter came after its research showed that faith-based provision is treated preferentially during school reorganisations.
In response Lord Agnew, the minister with responsibility for faith schools, stressed local authorities' responsibility to "ensure there are the right number and types of places to both meet demand and to provide diversity and choice for parents".
Research suggests faith is not an important reason why parents choose schools. In 2013 figures from YouGov showed that only 5% of parents in Britain would choose a school on the basis of giving a "grounding in faith tradition" and only 3% for "transmission of belief about God". In the same survey just 32% of people thought the government should prioritise funding for "faith schools in general".
After the latest revelations Mr Lichten added that "ultimately the taxpayer should not fund faith-based education".
"The future of England's education system should be to educate children of all backgrounds together in inclusive, secular schools, where they are trusted to make their own minds up about religion."
Six independent Islamic schools had serious failings, says DfE
Posted: Thu, 5 Apr 2018 15:32
Six independent Islamic schools in England had "serious regulatory" failings during recent inspections, according to newly-published warning notices from the government.
The Department for Education's independent education and boarding team issued the notices to schools in London, Leicester and Wolverhampton in October 2017. It published them online last week. All six schools were rated 'inadequate' in their most recent full Ofsted inspections.
The DfE said Al Ashraaf Secondary School in east London was failing to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain and pupils there had a "limited understanding about people of different faiths from their own". The letter to the school said it should produce policies, plans and schemes of work which did not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Buttercup Primary School in east London was told to preclude "the promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject in the school". It had also failed to check visiting speakers to ensure they did not promote partisan views, prompting a National Secular Society spokesperson to say "schools should not have free range to inculcate partisan religious or political views".
In 2016 NSS research found that only 16% of schools had a policy or policies concerning the partisan promotion of religious or political beliefs by external groups, visitors or speakers.
In all of the schools which received the new warning letters safety or safeguarding arrangements were among the reasons for failure. Inspectors identified poor fire safety arrangements at Al Falah Primary School in South London.
Safety arrangements were lacking at Buttercup, Al Ashraaf and the Leicester International School. Safeguarding arrangements were inadequate and premises including toilets were in poor condition at the Imam Zakariya Academy in north London.
Inspectors also failed the Islamic Preparatory School in Wolverhampton on the basis of its quality of their education, its checks on staff and the quality of its leadership and management.
The notices called on the schools to submit action plans, explaining how they intended to respond, by November. They were to be implemented by January and could be rejected at the secretary of state's discretion.
The DfE also published warning notices which were sent to four religiously unaffiliated independent schools.
The government published nine similar warning notices in February. In those cases three of the schools were Islamic, one Orthodox Jewish and one Christian.
In 2014 the National Secular Society supported the introduction of new independent school standards. In November 2017 Ofsted said almost half of independent faith schools had been rated as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' since the introduction of the new standards.
All private schools are measured against the independent school standards. Ofsted only inspects around 1,000 small schools in the private sector, as these do not belong to the Independent Schools Council.
Please note: this story was updated on 5 April 2018 to reflect the fact Ummid Independent School in Bradford does not have a religious affiliation.
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)
