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
Lib Dems back proposals to end compulsory worship and faith school discrimination against teachers
Posted: Tue, 7 Oct 2014 11:58
Liberal Democrats have voted in support of a motion to abolish compulsory worship in schools and to end religious discrimination against teachers in faith schools. Conference delegates however rejected an amendment to ban faith schools from selecting children on the basis of faith.
The votes took place in the conference debate on Expanding Opportunity, Unlocking Potential – the party's main equality policy paper. National Secular Society honorary associates Julian Huppert MP and Dr Evan Harris spoke in support of the amendments.
The proposal to ban faith-based pupil selection was defeated after Business Secretary Vince Cable and Justice Minister Simon Hughes urged delegates to reject the amendment saying it risked "really serious harm".
Julian Huppert, himself a former governor of a faith school, sought to correct the 'misconception' that the amendment was about 'closing down' faith schools.
He cited 73% of the public supporting an end to faith based school admissions and criticised discrimination against non-religious parents and those who do not share, or are unwilling to fake, the faith ethos of their local school.
He told the Conference that it was "right to question things which bias one group over another".
"We wouldn't allow them to discriminate based on sexuality, ethnicity or anything else. So why have a special rule for religious education", said Huppert.
Delegates however voted in support of repealing the legal requirement on schools to hold acts of collective worship of a broadly Christian character.
Julian Huppert said: "We don't require anybody else necessarily to partake in religious activity. Why should we require children to do so?"
Lib Dems also backed a motion to remove opt-outs from employment and equalities legislation which allow faith schools to discriminate against teachers on the basis of their religious beliefs or practice.
The Conference also approved a motion to accelerate the recognition of caste as an aspect of race under the Equality Act. The Government agreed to make discrimination on grounds of caste unlawful in 2103, but the law has not yet come into force.
A motion to change to the job title and role of the Minister for Faith and Communities was also backed. Under the proposals, a new Minister for Faith, Belief and Communities, with responsibility for working with community leaders to promote religious tolerance, would be attached to the Cabinet Office.
Anger as non-Catholics forced off the school bus
Posted: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 13:17
Parents in Flintshire have complained of religious discrimination after it emerged that non-Catholics wouldn't be permitted to use a bus provided by the local authority to a Catholic faith school.
This term sees the implementation of Flintshire Council's new policy of only providing free bus passes to faith schools where parents can prove that pupils are attending the school for religious reasons with evidence such as baptism certificates or a note from a priest.
One parent whose twin girls don't qualify for a free pass told the Flintshire Chronicle that parents have been "furious" to learn their children will not now be allowed to use the school bus, even as paid passengers.
Mum-of-three Emily Hill claims the ban is "religious discrimination" and is fearful about the prospect of her children having to use public transport to travel to school.
She told the Chronicle: "When the council did their consultations last year we were always led to believe that our children would still be able to use the bus and pay and we were told it would be about £55 a term, which I had no problem with as it is cheaper than public transport.
"Now my girls will have to use public transport and I'm really worried about their safety as it's going to be dangerous. They will have to walk through an alleyway and along the main road which is very busy.
She added: "it's discriminatory and causing segregation as it's making people stand out based on what religion they are. I'm so angry, it feels like we are all being penalised for not being the 'right' religion. There is enough anger in the world about religion as it is, so why add more."
She claims that dozens of children were made to get off if they did not have a pass, however Flintshire County Council denies that any pupils were made to leave the bus.
Ian Budd, chief officer education and youth for said: "Following thorough consultation, the council's transport policy for faith schools changed for new pupils starting the school with effect from this September.
"The effect of the revised policy is that free transport will be provided only to pupils who can provide evidence that they adhere to the faith of the school they attend.
"Bus passes have been distributed with the help of the school for the last two weeks, and bus drivers have been asked to check passes.
"The council will ensure that transport is provided as efficiently and economically as possible, and if after finalising transport arrangements there are any spare seats on school contract vehicles they may be sold at a concessionary rate".
When introduced in May 2013, Flintshire's policy was criticised as "morally repugnant" by the National Secular Society, which has condemned the way in which religious beliefs of parents are being used to single out specific children for unequal treatment in local authority school transport policies.
An Equality Act exemption means an authority's duty not to discriminate against a person on the grounds of their religion or belief does not apply to its functions in relation to school transport.
During its scrutiny of Act, the Joint Committee on Human Rights expressed concern that the existence of the exemptions would encourage authorities to treat the religious and the non-religious differently.
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)
