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
Promotion of 'British values' undermines Christian teaching, says Church of England: NSS responds
Posted: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 08:05
The Church of England has complained that the promotion of fundamental values such as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance in schools could undermine Christian teaching.
The Church has said the "Christian commandment" to "love your neighbour" should be included in the "British values" taught to schoolchildren.
It also described the government's approach to tackling religious extremism in schools as "potentially dangerous, divisive and undemocratic".
Responding to the Church's comments, Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, said: "It's rather divisive in itself for the Church of England to insist that the secular ethic of reciprocity should be promoted in schools as the 'Christian commandment' to love your neighbour.
"It's not as if Christians have a monopoly on morality and the truth is that the 'Golden Rule' is a universal value shared by people of all faiths and none – and is already firmly embodied in the ethos of schools up and down the country."
In its own response to the DfE's consultation, the NSS questioned whether the values explicitly expressed by the Department were exclusively "British" values and suggested a more outward looking approach to teaching about values might be beneficial as part of a broader-based intercultural education so as not reinforce a "them and us" culture.
A DfE spokesperson said: "The fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance were set out by the Government four years ago and have been commonly used since. Clearly Christian principles such as 'loving your neighbour' are integral to these. We believe that all young people should develop an appreciation for these values as this will help them to contribute to and succeed in modern Britain."
Meanwhile, writing on the Church of England blog this week, the Church's chief education officer, the Rev Nigel Genders, has also warned against "rejecting all forms of religion from our schools". He insisted "Church schools are not, and never have been, about indoctrination or recruitment."
However the National Secular Society pointed out that his claim was fundamentally undermined by comments made by John Pritchard, the former Chair of the Church of England's former Board of Education, who said "We don't need to attract [children] to church... they're already there, if we embrace our church schools fully."
Mr Evans, said: "With the long and continuing decline in church attendance, our state schools are clearly regarded by the church as the primary method of recruiting the next generation of Anglicans – and it should at least be upfront about this."
Earlier this week, in a blog published by the Guardian, a church school governor revealed how the Church's promotion of Christianity in her school had started to resemble a form of evangelism.
NSS alert Ofsted after Jewish faith school tells pupils not to answer exam questions that conflict with school’s religious ethos
Posted: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 19:56
The National Secular Society has called on Ofsted and the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure that all schools teach the National Curriculum in full after the head of a publicly funded Jewish faith school admitted to advising students not to answer exam questions which conflict with the school's strict Orthodox religious beliefs.
The head of the Yesodey Hatorah secondary girls' school has stated that he will "discourage pupils from answering 'halachically questionable' exam questions", according to the Hackney Citizen. This comes after the school was found to be redacting exam questions on science papers following an investigation by the National Secular Society.
After being warned against blacking out exam questions, Rabbi Avraham Pinter said that "if we can't redact [questions], then we won't redact them." However, the Rabbi went on to state that "our children will be aware of which questions they should be answering and which ones they shouldn't be." Pinter also said that evolution was not compatible with the school's strict, Orthodox ethos. It is now clear that rather than redacting questions as they had in the past, the school is advising students not to address the questions.
The schools is now said to be "defiant" over the practice of telling children not to answer exam questions, and the secondary has been downgraded from "outstanding" to "good" after a recent 'no-notice' Ofsted inspection.
The National Secular Society has written to Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw and the DfE raising concerns that the school, and potentially other faith schools, may be failing to teach the National Curriculum in full when scientific facts clash with the school's ethos.
In the letter to the schools regulator and the DfE, the NSS also raise concerns that children's "sexual and reproductive health rights are being impeded by the refusal to teach such key areas of the National Curriculum as human reproduction".
The letter warns that "children are entitled to be taught about these issues in preparation for life, and it is likely that the parents who send children to these schools are materially less likely than other parents to be teaching them this vital information at home."
The NSS has also asked the schools regulator to investigate comments made by Rabbi Pinter which indicate that he regards homosexuality to be incompatible with the school's religious ethos.
In 2013, the National Secular Society revealed that the school was redacting exam questions on topics such as human reproduction and evolution, which did not conform to strict, Orthodox beliefs.
The exam regulator Ofqual subsequently made clear to exam boards that schools should not be allowed to redact questions and that any attempt to do so should be treated as "malpractice".
Stephen Evans, campaign manager at the National Secular Society, said: "advising young people not to answer exam questions clearly isn't in the students' best interests, as it prevents them from demonstrating their ability in the subject they should have been taught as part of the National Curriculum. But the school's attitude clearly extends beyond exams and into science classes, where children and young people are being deprived of vital scientific knowledge.
"We hope Ofsted and the DfE will share our concern that such behaviour by schools could disadvantage pupils by failing to promote their individual autonomy, leaving them ill-equipped for life outside of a religious community, and by denying them the opportunity to reach their full potential.
"This represents the intellectual betrayal of children, whose independent interests are being sidelined by schools more intent on pushing their own religious agenda.
"Unfortunately this is another example of a common problem throughout our state education system – children's education being compromised by the influence of religious organisations. The time has surely come to question the appropriateness religious organisations running publicly funded schools in 21st century Britain."
According to the school's 2010 Ofsted inspection report, all of the Yesodey Hatorah's students come from "strictly Orthodox Jewish homes." A 2013 school prospectus noted that "Charedi homes do not have TV or other inappropriate media. Parents ensure that their children do not have access to the Internet or any other media which do not meet the stringent moral criteria of the Charedi community".
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)
