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 welcomes Caroline Lucas’ bill on compulsory PSHE and sex education
Posted: Wed, 15 Jul 2015 16:46
Caroline Lucas MP has urged the Government to make personal, social and health education (PSHE) compulsory in all schools, including free schools and academies.
The teaching of PSHE does not currently have a statutory footing, meaning there are significant discrepancies in how the subject is taught nationally. The MP has introduced a new bill which would require all state-funded schools to provide sex and relationships education (SRE).
The Green Party MP commented on the plans, "Under current legislation free schools and academies are exempt from a requirement to teach the subject. It's this stark inequality – which sees some young people receiving the very best PSHE lessons while others are left exposed to harm – which my bill seeks to address."
Lucas explained, "Ministers like to use the defence that 'SRE is already statutory'. But this is misleading. The current legal situation is confusing and young people are missing out on the enormous potential of PSHE. Only state secondary schools have to provide limited sex education. Academies and free schools do not have to teach SRE. The current law falls far short of ensuring all our children get the PSHE teaching they need and deserve."
The chair of the Education Committee said the Government had offered a "feeble" response to the plans, after education secretary Nicky Morgan gave a non-committal answer, saying only that she would "look at" options "to ensure PSHE is taught well everywhere."
The National Secular Society has repeatedly raised concerns about the teaching of sex and relationships education (SRE) in free schools and academies with a faith ethos.
The Society recently reported the case of one academy where SRE was taught in line with the "Maker's Instructions".
The King's Academy in Middlesbrough teaches "chastity outside of marriage" in SRE classes and their formal policy statement on sex education starts by stating that "human beings are created to a Divine design".
In another case, the NSS reported on the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth's recently issued guidance to schools which stresses that "purity" and the "virtue of chastity" should be at the core of sex education.
Caroline Lucas' new bill is also aimed at tackling the sexual abuse of children by making sure they have knowledge and education about the meaning of consent. The MP has raised concerns that poor SRE in some schools leaves students unaware of their rights.
An NSS spokesperson commented: "We welcome this bill and hope it gains traction in the new parliament. It is long overdue that a child's right to objective, comprehensive and age-appropriate sex and relationships education was put on a statutory basis.
"Faith schools, free schools and academies should all be required to teach this subject. They should not be exempt for religious reasons. In this case the child's rights must come first."
The legislation was introduced as a Ten Minute Rule Bill on Wednesday 15 July 2015 but was opposed by Philip Davies MP, who said the widespread support for reform was nothing more than a "tyranny of the majority".
He said that parents should have the right to withdraw their children from sex education to "protect" their "values".
"We've been trying sex education … for decades," he complained, before adding there was "no evidence" that sex education made "any difference whatsoever". He warned repeatedly about "sex education fanatics", to apparent laughter in the House of Commons. "I'm glad everyone finds it so funny," he said later in the debate.
He went on to praise Italy for having "very low levels" of sex education. He said that the UK should not be "faffing around" with more sex education.
"Let's abandon sex education", the Conservative MP added. He went on to make an unclear connection between teachers who had been convicted of having sex with their students, and SRE being taught in schools. He even suggested that sex education had caused one pupil to rape another.
Davies has previously called for all sex education to be scrapped.
The bill successfully passed its first parliamentary hurdle with 183 MPs voting in favour and 44 voting against. It will now proceed to a second reading on Friday 22 January 2016.
Government presses on with new Sikh free school despite council objections
Posted: Mon, 13 Jul 2015 13:06
The Government has approved plans for a new Sikh ethos free school in Derby, despite the fact that the City Council has repeatedly stated that there is no need for new primary places.
The Council says "there are sufficient primary school places" in Derby already and that provision of primary places is under "rigorous management".
Derby completed an expansion programme for primary school places and "responded to the Department for Education outlining that additional primary school places are not needed in Derby", even prior to discussions about the proposed Sikh school.
Despite the Council stating that "additional primary places are … not currently required in the city" the Government has moved forward with plans to open a Sikh ethos school, the Akaal Primary school, with 420 places.
The Councillor responsible for education and skills, Sarah Russell, commented: "The Council has been strategically managing the need for school places, and as result of this forward planning, Derby has sufficient primary school places."
In spite of repeated assurances that new school places are not required, the Department for Education has written to the Council requesting that land be handed over for the new school.
Dr Daljit Singh Virk, one of the Akaal school's founders, has accused the Council of playing a "political game" and having a "political agenda".
Stephen Evans of the National Secular Society commented on the case: "The NSS makes the principled case against faith schools, that students shouldn't be segregated by faith, that taxpayers shouldn't have to fund religious activity, that faith schools damage social cohesion and that minority faith schools lead to segregation by ethnicity.
"But there is also a very strong practical argument as well. In a situation like this where there is no need for new school places and where the council have clearly assessed their provision of primary school places, why should the taxpayer have to foot the bill for a school that obviously isn't required?
"How does it support a localism agenda to overrule the judgement and planning of a local Council?
"The Council have indicated that they are reserving the requested site in case new places are needed in future and existing schools need to expand. This makes much more sense than taking the site now and tying it to a religious affiliation; excluding non-Sikh children or else expecting non-Sikhs to attend a faith school which is not in accordance with their beliefs or those of their parents'.
"There are other cases of Sikh schools being opened where they are not needed and being badly undersubscribed. It is a shame that the Government seem to insist on making this same mistake again."
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)
