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
NSS warns against plan to mix secular and Hindu academy trusts
Posted: Thu, 7 Dec 2017 14:34
The National Secular Society has told the Government that plans to merge a secular multi-academy trust with a Hindu one could lead to more "faith schools by stealth".
Floreat Education Academies Trust, which operates three secular primary schools, has opened talks to amalgamate with Avanti Schools Trust, which runs five primary and two secondary Hindu faith schools. Floreat's founder Lord O'Shaughnessy says it has run into financial difficulties and is in a "precarious position".
The proposed merger would create a 'mixed' multi-academy trust (MAT), with secular and Hindu faith schools under a single board of trustees. If the plans are approved by the regional schools commissioner, the new trust could be in place by next September.
"I think it's probably going to be the first mixed MAT of its kind in terms of having the denominational and the secular schools," Lord O'Shaughnessy told TES. He also said Floreat "would have liked to have stayed independent" and its schools would retain their names and existing ethos.
Stephen Evans, the NSS's CEO, said the amalgamation "risks further blurring of the distinction between secular and faith schooling".
"This will inevitably allow religious enthusiasts greater control over secular schools. The non-religious are already a marginalised majority within state education. Secularism, rather than multifaithism, is needed to address this."
The NSS fears the merger between a secular and religious academy trust will provide an opportunity to "sneak in religion through the back door," and has written to the Regional Schools Commissioner and the Secretary of State for Education to outline its concerns.
Avanti schools' ethos: "all Trust schools will follow, without compromise, the agreed daily Collective Worship model"
Schools operated by Avanti are governed by the Hindu Education Authority (HEA), formerly known as the iFoundation. This charity's purpose is to evangelise the Hindu faith, specifically the teachings of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), more commonly known as the 'Hare Krishna' movement.
The Charity Commission lists the HEA's objectives as "to advance, transmit, spread and propogate [sic] the religion of Hinduism… to provide educational facility and support to Hindu faith education initiatives and to act as the religious authority for state-funded schools with a Hindu faith designation."
Avanti schools' faith ethos is made very clear in its online policies document, which says "schools are sacred places, no less than places of worship" and includes several pages on religious ideology and practices. Meat, fish and eggs are banned from the school on religious grounds, while onion, garlic and mushrooms "should be avoided if possible and if unavoidable, included only where the food is for personal consumption."
The schools also follow a strictly regimented collective worship policy, assessed by HEA inspectors, with the aim of "assisting the individual to recognize and develop a natural sense of spirituality, leading to devotion to Krishna." The policy states: "Once established in their final building location, all Trust schools will follow, without compromise, the agreed daily Collective Worship model, where all elements of worship are linked to learning." It also specifies that both pupils and staff must keep a "Collective Worship Journal", all staff meetings should begin with "spiritual reflection", and all staff must attend several hours' worth of special "induction" sessions.
Avanti's goals: "One of our strategic aspirations has always been the inclusion of non-denominational schools"
Avanti Schools Trust aims to take control of more non-denominational schools. Avanti's chairman and chief executive told TES: "One of our strategic aspirations has always been the inclusion of non-denominational schools within the Avanti trust."
On its website Avanti states: "We are currently in conversation with a small number of community schools who are aligned in their vision for educational vision and who may wish to join the Avanti family."
The governing body also aims to promote the ISKCON faith ethos. The 2016 financial statements for the HEA state: "The charity's main aspirations are to continue to follow its core educational objectives throughout the forthcoming years by assisting the Avanti Schools Trust to develop its faith ethos and educational material for use in its schools."
In its most recent online Summary Information Return the HEA also said its objectives included: "continue improving the RE curriculum provision within schools; increase capacity and training of S48 inspectors; increased school visits and potential expansion into pastoral/chaplaincy work".
In its letter the NSS warned that Avanti's mission to further promote its religious ideology through its schools, combined with its eagerness to take over non-denominational schools, suggests it may push its faith ethos on the Floreat schools once Avanti trustees are put in charge. The NSS is particularly concerned that Avanti may use the legal requirement for collective worship to impose its ethos on the Floreat schools, without the schools necessarily being registered with a religious character or ethos.
Additionally, the HEA's focus on the RE curriculum brings the risk that ISKCON beliefs will be taught in a confessional and evangelical manner at Floreat schools.
Mr Evans said the combination of Avanti's ethos and 'strategic aspiration' "raises troubling questions about the implications of this merger for children, parents and staff in Floreat schools".
Image: statue of Krishna, by y Vrundavan gopi (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Faith schools using RS IGCSE loophole to teach just one religion
Posted: Thu, 7 Dec 2017 10:53
The number of pupils being entered for a religious studies IGCSE exam which allows them to learn about only one religion rose by 40% last year.
Schools Week has reported that the number of English entries for the IGCSE offered by the international for-profit exam board Pearson rose from 436 pupils in 2015 to 608 in 2016. Schools such as Yavneh College in Hertfordshire, a Jewish faith academy, have switched to the IGCSE in that time.
Since 2016 a change in the curriculum has meant schools have had to teach a second religion for at least a quarter of their RS GCSE course. Yavneh was among schools which initially responded by dropping its RS course.
But now more are responding by taking up the offer of an international qualification from Edexcel, which is owned by Pearson. Reports suggest the change is particularly driven by Jewish schools. According to the Jewish Chronicle Immanuel College in Bushey is switching to the course, while Hasmonean High School in Hendon and King David High School in Manchester are considering doing so.
The National Secular Society's education campaigner Alastair Lichten said the development highlighted the need to tackle religious power over schools' curricula and governance structures.
"Even if this loophole was closed, learning about a token extra religion for a quarter of a GCSE course really isn't a sufficient requirement. This is a reminder that what children learn about should be dictated by what's best for children and society, not the interest of faith groups.
"And it's inevitable that religious organisations will behave like this when they have so much power in English schools. The state shouldn't be funding schools which build their ethos around religion at all."
The NSS is campaigning for an end to faith schools and reform of the way religion and belief are taught.
The development has also been criticised by some in the education community.
Deborah Weston, a research officer at the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education, said Pearson had made a "business decision" rather than one based on the "principle of what RS teaching should be like". Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of Schools and College Leaders, said the decision was "at odds with us as a society".
Spencer Lewis, the executive headteacher of Yavneh College, told Schools Week he felt the IGCSE was "an appropriate course" that would "interest and challenge" pupils. He said the focus on a single religion was "not the motivating factor" for the switch and pupils would still learn about other religions.
The schools do not appear to be trying to boost their official standing in performance tables. The Government does not recognise IGCSEs when it calculates these.
A spokesperson for Pearson told Schools Week its RS IGCSE was "informed" by the Department for Education's requirements, but the company had to make sure the content was "appropriate for schools worldwide, delivered in many different cultural contexts".
Pearson added that while most questions in the IGCSE could be answered "from the perspective of one religion", pupils also needed "knowledge and understanding of key religious ideas which are not specific to any one religion", as well as of non-religious beliefs.
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)
