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
Faith school allocation may infringe human rights
Posted: Sun, 6 Apr 2014 07:09
Non-religious and Christian parents who have been allocated places for their children at a Sikh free school have argued that their right to educate their children according to their beliefs is being infringed.
A number of parents have contacted the National Secular Society after being allocated places at the controversial Khalsa Academy Secondary School in Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire, despite not including the school in their list of preferences.
Parents are now investigating the possibility of a human rights challenge. One parent told the NSS: "We're not a religious family so it's clearly inappropriate for our children to be educated at a school with an overtly religious ethos. We'll challenge this all the way."
Another parent said: "I am extremely upset and shocked. We are not a religious family, and yet I am being told I have to send my child to a faith school.
"How can I explain that to my child? Surely this is against the Human Rights Act to force a child to attend a faith school?"
The European Convention on Human Rights requires states to respect the right of parents' religious and philosophical convictions in respect of education and teaching. This aspect of the right is closely aligned to Article 9 of the Convention, which protects the right to freedom of religion and belief. It does not require the government to provide or subsidise any specific type of education.
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, commented: "Leaving parents with no option other than to send their child to a school with an ethos entirely inconsistent with their own beliefs clearly fails to respect their right to have their religious and philosophical convictions respected.
"The best way to ensure everyone's rights are protected is to have inclusive schools that are equally welcoming to pupils regardless of their religion or belief background."
Mike Appleyard, cabinet member for education and skills at Buckinghamshire County Council said: "Buckinghamshire's 69 faith schools are treated in the same way as schools with no faith background. Parents who prefer their children not to attend a faith school are able to make a transfer appeal application to the independent appeal process."
All parents of children allocated places at Khalsa Academy against their wishes are believed to be submitting appeals.
Despite describing itself as an "inclusive school", Khalsa Academy claims to provide a "learning environment within which children learn about spirituality, faith and practice Sikh values." Panjabi and Sikh Studies are compulsory for all Sikh students, while non-Sikhs are separated to study an alternative modern foreign language. The school's 'Collective Worship' features prayers of a Sikh nature, and a religious questionnaire for parents wishing to send their child to the school makes clear that the school has "regular religious functions" in which families are expected to take part.
In a video on the school's website, Nick Singh Kandola, Chair of the school's board of Trustees, says "As Sikhs we believe this is a unique opportunity. This life time is given to us on earth to help those in need, to excel in ourselves and to find God – that's our purpose here and we want to teach children those core values."
The school offers exclusively vegetarian meals with parents not permitted to make packed lunches in order to stop meat, fish, or eggs being brought onto site, which is also regarded as a place of worship. However, the school's head has claimed in the local media that the school meals policy is simply based on trying to "encourage a healthy diet" rather than faith reasons.
The school, which opened as a free school in September 2013, has been the subject of a bitter dispute over where it should be sited.
Local campaigners argue that there is no need for a new school in the area and that the village lacks the infrastructure to cope with a large school. It is thought the majority of pupils attending the school will be bussed in from surrounding areas with higher proportions of Sikhs.
An application for the Khalsa Secondary Academy to stay at its Stoke Poges location beyond its current one-year agreement, which runs out in July, was rejected by South Bucks District Council in January. The Department for Education, which purchased the former office block and surrounding land for a reputed £4.5m, has now posted a new application with the Council.
Trevor Egleton, District Councillor for South Bucks, commented: "This application has been a travesty from the very beginning. The Department for Education have acted like the worst developer in the world, with every single aspect of what they are proposing in contravention of several national and local planning policies."
Parents that have been allocated places at the school have 20 school days from the notification date to submit their admissions appeals.
See also: Row as atheist pupils are sent to vegetarian Sikh school
Success! Exam regulator bans censorship of exam questions at faith schools
Posted: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:30
Faith schools will no longer be allowed to redact questions about evolution and reproduction from science exam papers on grounds of religious sensitivity, and any attempt to do so will be treated as "malpractice" the exam regulator has said.
Ofqual has made clear that exam boards must not enter into agreements with schools to allow redactions and that any agreements currently in place should be withdrawn before any further assessments are taken.
In a letter to the National Secular Society, the Chief Regular, Glenys Stacey, said: "From a regulatory perspective we don't think it is in students' best interests to have exam questions redacted from an exam paper. Such a practice denies students the opportunity to demonstrate their full potential across the curriculum they should have been taught and therefore disadvantages them."
An investigation by the National Secular Society in 2013 revealed that exam questions on science papers had been redacted by teachers at Yesodey Hatorah Jewish Voluntary Aided girls' secondary school. A freedom of information request by the NSS revealed that the practice was more widespread than this particular school, and that exam boards, the exam regulator and the government had been colluding with faith schools to shield pupils from key scientific concepts.
The exam board in question, Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR), had originally said they intended to "come to an agreement" with schools concerned over "how, when and where the redactions take place – but at the same time respecting their need to do this in view of their religious beliefs".
In correspondence with the National secular Society, education minister Elizabeth Truss described this as a "proportionate and reasonable response."
However, in a dramatic change of policy, OCR this week issued a statement, to condemn the practice:
"We have now been able to consider our position and have concluded that as a matter of policy schools should not be permitted to tamper with question papers prior to a student sitting an exam".
It goes on to say:
"OCR believes that this approach should be adopted by all Awarding Bodies and supported by the Regulator. We told Ofqual that this is the approach we would be taking and wanted clarity from its Board as to whether it would be supporting this policy. We are pleased that the Regulator has said that it agrees with us that such a practice should not be permitted."
The National Secular Society, which first highlighted the issue, welcomed the exam regulator's decisive action.
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said: "This is a significant victory for the rights of children and young people to not have their education impeded by religious organisations seeking to pursue their own agenda of inculcation or indoctrination.
"We will now be urging the Government to introduce robust measures to ensure all faith schools teach the National Curriculum in full, including areas that clash with schools' religious ethos, such as evolution and human reproduction."
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)
