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
Government forces local authority to hand over £1 million site to 'Sikh ethos free school'
Posted: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:07
Leeds City Council has been ordered to hand over a former primary school site worth almost £1 million to enable an undersubscribed Sikh free school to relocate.
Leeds was considering plans to use the former primary school site as the premises for a new special needs school, but the Department for Education has ordered the site to be transferred to the Khalsa Education Trust for free.
The Trust in question runs the undersubscribed Khalsa Science Academy, a Sikh-ethos free school. The Academy has 10 spare places at present and, according to the Yorkshire Post, out of the 12 Leeds pupils in the academy's reception class just three had chosen the Sikh academy as their first preference school.
The academy is currently based in temporary premises and hopes a permanent location will allow it to attract more pupils.
Regardless of the lack of demand for the school and despite huge pressure on school places locally, the Department for Education is using its powers under the Academies Act 2010 to force the council, which owns the site, to hand over the property. The Department will not compensate Leeds City Council for the loss.
Lord Nash, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, says the move will have a positive impact on community relations. In a letter to the council, Nash wrote that any "negative effect" on special needs pupils is "outweighed by the benefits of providing greater choice for parents who may be seeking a Sikh ethos education."
Concerns have been expressed locally that the site will now be used to house a very small number of students, many of whom did not opt for a Sikh ethos school in the first place.
Local councillors say that demand for the Sikh-ethos school is demonstrably low in the area. One councillor said: "we are concerned with providing school places in the areas of greatest need and Khalsa's numbers so far give us cause for concern."
Mark Rudd, a local school governor who contacted the National Secular Society (NSS), said: "Given the shortage of school places in the area this is a patently ridiculous and politically driven decision from the very top of government."
Another Leeds school, in this case a Jewish free school, attracted just 8 pupils when it opened with "state-of-the-art" facilities earlier his year. Only 11 are thought to have joined since. The government had provided £3 million to open the school. According to the Yorkshire Evening Post the school "has fewer children across two year groups than many secondary schools have in a single class."
NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans, said: "It beggars belief that the government has ordered that the land be given over to a faith based school where there appears to be little demand for one. The decision appears to be ideologically driven and makes a mockery of the government's localism agenda. Once again we see the wishes of religious organisations placed above the very real needs of children and families. Where school places are needed, they should be created in inclusive secular schools – not faith based schools that have the effect of dividing local children along both religious and ethnic lines."
In 2013 a site for another Sikh faith school in South Buckinghamshire village of Stoke Poges was purchased by the DfE for a reported £4.5m. The Khalsa Secondary School is now the subject of a legal dispute concerning Eric Pickles' decision to grant approval for the use of site for school despite objections from the Parish Council and local residents.
The school caused controversy earlier this year after children were allocated places at the undersubscribed school against the wishes of their parents.
Schools Minister writes to Rabbi over advice to avoid science questions at Jewish faith school
Posted: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 12:59
The Minister for Schools, David Laws MP, has written to the principal of Yesodey Hatorah, an Orthodox Jewish school, after the National Secular Society raised concerns that the school was failing to teach the National Curriculum in full and advising pupils to not answer exam questions on evolution and human reproduction.
Both Ofsted and the Department for Education have now written to the National Secular Society regarding the Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School, after the NSS raised concerns that school leaders have a policy of instructing students not to answer "sensitive" exam questions, after previously redacting them from papers.
David Laws MP writing to the NSS, said that "it is unacceptable for any school to redact exam papers, because this denies pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their full potential across the curriculum they have been taught."
The Minister added that "Yesodey Hatorah School has previously assured the department that it will teach the National Curriculum in full, with certain topics taught in a sensitive manner to respect its pupils' religious beliefs and that it will not redact questions in exam papers. It is important that they honour these commitments."
The NSS wrote to the DfE and Ofsted after Rabbi Pinter, principle of Yesodey Hatorah, said that the school would no longer redact exam questions as they had in the past, and instead simply instruct students not to answer them when the subject matter conflicted with the school's strict, Orthodox Jewish ethos.
David Laws has now written to Rabbi Pinter, "seeking reassurance that his school remains committed to teaching the full National Curriculum, as well as important non-curricular subjects like PHSE and SRE." The Minister added that "I have also asked him to confirm whether pupils will be advised not to answer certain questions that may arise during next summer's examinations."
Ofsted, responding to the concerns of the NSS, wrote that during the school's last inspection by Ofsted, in September 2014, "inspectors considered the school's practice of redacting examination questions." According to the Ofsted letter, inspectors were aware that "there had been correspondence between the school and an examination board" which had privately authorised the school's practice of redacting questions, but that an understanding had now been reached that "the school's practice of redacting examination questions would no longer continue."
In response to our concerns about the teaching of science, Ofsted write that "the school made it clear that a creationist belief is taught within the Kodesh (Jewish faith) curriculum, but that students also know that there is another viewpoint."
The NSS also asked the schools regulator to investigate comments made by Rabbi Pinter indicating that he regards homosexuality as incompatible with the school's religious ethos. In response, Ofsted say their inspection report found students were "aware of different discriminatory forms of bullying, although there is no specific reference to homophobic bullying."
Despite indicating no plans to take action against the school, Ofsted have said that they will "take very seriously any first-hand evidence that this or any other school were continuing to redact examination questions, failing to teach the statutory science curriculum (including evolution and genetics), or failing to promote tolerance and respect for people from all cultures and lifestyles."
NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans, commented: "We were successful last year in ensuring the redaction of exam papers was considered malpractice, but the issue goes beyond the blacking out of certain questions. This time we raised concerns of a very specific nature, and fail to see how Ofsted's reference to their September report addresses them. In the responses from both Ofsted and the DfE, there seems to an unwillingness to engage with the specific allegations.
"Young people's education should never be compromised when scientific facts happen to conflict with a school's religious outlook – and homosexuality shouldn't be 'incompatible' with the ethos of any of our publicly funded schools.
"Rabbi Pinter's comments clearly indicate that the intransigent attitude extends beyond exams and into science classes. It is inconceivable that the sensitivity over exam questions on religious grounds is not a symptom of science not being taught properly, particularly reproductive biology and evolution.
"If Rabbi Pinter is unable to confirm to the Minister for Schools that pupils are now taught the National Curriculum in full, and are free to answer all exam questions, then a much stronger line should be taken with this school – and indeed any others that allow their religious ethos to stand in the way of child's right to a broad and balanced education."
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)
