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
Discriminatory faith school bus policy “under review”
Posted: Tue, 31 May 2016 14:19
The National Secular Society (NSS) has welcomed news from Telford and Wrekin Council that its discriminatory school transport policy is being reconsidered.
The NSS called on the Council to review the policy in May after it was reported that the family of a 12-year-old boy were told that they could not use a taxpayer-subsidised bus, as it was only for church-going pupils.
In addition to its statutory obligations to assist pupils from low-income families, the Council provides discretionary assistance to pupils attending faith schools provided they are baptised Catholics or their families are "faithful and regular worshippers" in a Church of England Parish Church or other Christian affiliated churches
The pupil, who attends Holy Trinity, a state funded multi-faith academy, was told he would have to use public transport to get to school, whilst pupils from Christian backgrounds use transport provided by the Council.
The pupil's father said "The bus stops two minutes from the front door" but that his son "was told because he's not Catholic, even though he goes to the school, he can't use it."
In a response to the NSS, the Council said the home to school transport policy was "under review" and will soon go out to consultation.
The Council's assistant director responsible for education told the NSS that he hoped to "identify a solution which addresses both your anxieties and those of the residents of Telford and Wrekin."
Telford and Wrekin council said that their current policy "does contain provisions for secondary school age pupils to receive transport on the grounds of faith or religion to their nearest faith school where this is more than 3 miles from the pupil's home address and there is a similar provision in place for primary school aged pupils who are over 2 miles from their nearest faith school."
They added that the comments and analysis of the NSS would be made available to council officers responsible for the review.
Stephen Evans, the campaigns director of the National Secular Society, said the review was a good opportunity for the Council to reconsider whether it should be providing discretionary assistance to parents choosing more distant faith schools on religious grounds.
"By subsiding the choice of religious parents who opt to send their child to faith-based schools, the council is not only acting in a discriminatory way, it's also actively encouraging the division of pupils along religious lines.
"Instead, we'd like to see all local authorities promoting inclusivity and operating equitable school transport policies, free from religious favouritism and fair for families and taxpayers alike."
Faith school pupil not allowed on council-run ‘Christian only’ bus
Posted: Tue, 10 May 2016 12:32
The National Secular Society has urged a local authority to review its school transport policy after a pupil was told he couldn't use the council-run school bus because it is provided only for church-going pupils.
The boy's family told the Shropshire Star that their 12-year-old son, who is already a pupil at Holy Trinity Academy in Telford, had recently had to change address to live permanently with his mother. However, when the family tried to arrange for school transport for him, they were told he cannot use the subsidised bus as it is only for church-going pupils. Holy Trinity is a state funded multi-faith academy.
In a letter to the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, the National Secular Society's campaigns director, Stephen Evans, urged the Council to amend its policy to ensure that all children are treated equally, irrespective of their faith background.
Mr Evans said:
"Faith schools being allowed to discriminate against pupils on religious grounds does not justify a local authority discriminating against non-Christians in a similar fashion when providing school transport."
"Once children have been accepted into a school it's reasonable to expect that any travel assistance they receive from the local authority will be fair, equitable and non-discriminatory.
"Discrimination in school transport provision may be regarded as a side issue compared to the wider issues of discrimination caused by faith schools, but for the families on the receiving end and for the children who can't sit on the same bus as their friends and neighbours, this unfairness is very real."
According to the boy's father other parents are experiencing similar issues. Without the council provided school bus he says his son's journey would be unsafe, involving crossing a busy road. However, it is up to the local authority to determine if a child's walk to school is unsafe.
Emily Taylor, a spokeswoman for Telford & Wrekin Council told the Shropshire Star that "When a parent prefers to send their child to a school which is not their designated nearest school from the home address, the parent will assume responsibility for the provision of transport and associated costs. However, the Council's policy makes special provision for parents choosing to send their children to a religious school based on their religious beliefs.
Earlier this year Flintshire Council announced it was to review its school transport policy which saw Catholic pupils given free travel but made non-Catholics on the same council-run bus pay. In 2013 one mother in Durham was told one of her two sons (both traveling to the same state school on the same bus) would need to pay as he wasn't baptised.
The Equality Act requires local authorities not to discriminate against a person on the grounds of their religion or belief. However, an exemption means that this doesn't apply to school transport – an arrangement that Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights warned would encourage authorities to treat the religious and the non-religious differently.
See also: NSS urges council rethink after non-church pupil refused travel on a school bus.
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)
