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
Established church hinders religious freedom, NSS tells UN expert
Posted: Tue, 30 May 2023 08:37
The NSS has told a UN expert that lack of separation between Church and state is undermining freedom of religion or belief in the UK.
Orkney Council ends voting privileges for religious appointees
Posted: Wed, 10 May 2023 11:11
The National Secular Society has welcomed a Scottish council's decision to end voting privileges for unelected religious appointees.
Orkney Council has joined three other Scottish councils in ending voting concessions for the religious representatives sitting on the local authority's Education, Leisure, and Housing (ELH) committee.
Councillors voted 12 to 9 in favour of removing their voting privileges in a full council meeting last week.
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 obliges local authorities in Scotland to appoint three religious representatives to their education committees, at least one of whom must be appointed by the Roman Catholic Church and one by the Protestant Church of Scotland.
Such representatives have voting privileges in most councils, enabling them to influence local education policies affecting both faith and non-faith schools. They are generally the only unelected members granted such concessions, an issue raised by members of Orkney Council at the meeting.
The council's decision brings religious representatives in line with the ELH committee's two teacher representatives, who also cannot cast votes.
Green councillor John Ross Scott, who put the motion forward, said he finds it "bewildering" that unelected religious representatives retain the right to vote on education committees, despite the sharp decline of religious affiliation in Scotland. A 2018 poll found almost 60% of Scots were non-religious, including almost 70% of 18-24 year olds.
The legal requirement for Scottish councils to appoint religious representatives is being increasingly challenged by local authorities. In 2019 Perth and Kinross Council became the first to strip them of voting privileges. Following campaigning from the NSS and others, Moray Council and Scottish Borders Council followed suit.
Fife Council is also considering removing voting privileges for religious appointees. They are being lobbied by churches to retain these privileges.
Last year several members of Shetland Islands Council expressed dissatisfaction at being required to appoint a religious representative to the authority's education committee, with councillors describing the situation as both "unconstitutional and undemocratic" and "ridiculous in the 21st century".
Scotland's then-Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP subsequently told the NSS there are "no plans" to end places for religious appointees on education committees. She said the presence of "significant numbers of denominational schools" in Scotland and the "requirement to provide Religious Education" means there "continues to be a role for religious groups in decision making for denominational and non-denominational schools alike".
NSS: 'We hope other councils follow suit'
Head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "We welcome Orkney Council's decision to join the growing number of Scottish local authorities who have stripped religious representatives of their archaic and undemocratic voting privileges.
"Religious appointees are the only unelected members given voting concessions. This makes no sense in the context of an increasingly irreligious and diverse society. We hope other councils are watching and will follow suit.
"The next step should be to repeal the requirement for religious representatives on councils. Rather than entrenching existing religious privilege, the Scottish government should be aiming to make Scotland's education equal and inclusive for all."
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)
