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 agrees to include NSS findings in school admissions review
Posted: Thu, 23 Mar 2023 14:52
The government has said it will consider National Secular Society research on faith schools as part of its next review of school admissions.
An NSS report published last month revealed how religious requirements in the oversubscription criteria of 14 state-funded faith schools' admissions policies are being used to impose extreme religious ideology on families.
This includes attempts to control aspects of families' private lives, including parents' sex lives, which the NSS argued may breach human rights.
Many of the requirements also resemble rules imposed by high-control religious groups on their members, as identified by 'cult' watchdog The Family Survival Trust.
In its report, the NSS argued that the schools are exhibiting coercive and controlling behaviour, which can be a criminal offence within the context of an interpersonal relationship.
Several schools required applicants to follow Jewish 'purity laws' regarding sex. These rules concern when a married couple may have sexual intercourse or come into physical contact with one another, according to the timings of the woman's menstrual cycle.
Other practices required by schools included:
- Children having no access to the internet or television, and for children to be forbidden from visiting the cinema or theatre.
- Parents and children following strict dress codes at all times, including outside of school, such as 'modest' dress for women and girls.
- Following a halal diet and fasting during Ramadan.
In response to the report, Minister for Schools Nick Gibb said he would consider the report's findings and recommendations as part of the next review of the School Admissions Code.
School admissions policies must comply with the admissions code. A policy's compliance with the code is determined by the Office of the School's Adjudicator (OSA).
Despite the existing code requiring that admissions policies are "reasonable, clear, objective, [and] procedurally fair" and compliant with "all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation", several complaints to the OSA regarding the kind of extreme religious requirements set out in the report have been unsuccessful.
The NSS recommended that the Schools Admissions Code be updated to specifically prohibit oversubscription criteria which breach human rights, and that further guidance is provided to the OSA regarding the code's enforcement and application.
NSS: Government commitment is "welcome"
NSS campaigns officer Jack Rivington said: "The government's commitment to consider the report's findings and recommendations in its next review of the School Admissions Code is welcome, as is the recognition of concerns regarding human rights breaches.
"Fundamentalist religious organisations must not be able to use schools as a means to exert control over members of particular religious communities. The practices identified in the report are intrusive and harmful. Their presence in our education system is deeply alarming.
"A wider assessment of the role of discriminatory faith-based admissions in facilitating these kind of practices should now follow."
NSS calls for faith-based RSE to be included in review
Posted: Mon, 13 Mar 2023 16:58
The National Secular Society has urged the government to consider the potential harms caused by faith-based relationships and sex education (RSE) in its upcoming review of the subject.
Last week, prime minister Rishi Sunak ordered a review into RSE amid concerns some schools are using age-inappropriate resources or teaching contested ideas about gender in RSE lessons.
In a letter to Nick Gibb today, the NSS said this review should include an examination of faith-based RSE, as it has found many state-funded faith schools teach discriminatory religious dogma as part of their RSE curriculum.
In 2018, NSS research found many faith schools explicitly teach that same-sex relationships are wrong and criticise sex outside of marriage. Many condemn contraceptives and abortion, and some teach taboos around menstruation. These teachings contradict advice from healthcare and education professionals and are inconsistent with the Equality Act 2010.
State-funded faith schools are permitted to teach RSE in line with their "distinctive faith perspective on relationships". Even for state schools without a religious designation, the RSE guidance says: "In all schools, when teaching [RSE], the religious background of all pupils must be taken into account when planning teaching".
Schools without a religious character have frequently come under pressure from religious lobbying groups opposed to teaching about same-sex relationships. One such group, Parents United, recently hosted a conference where speakers told attendees gay children must be taught to 'repent'.
Last month, research by Just Like Us found one in three teachers says faith acts as a 'barrier' to discussing LGBT+ topics in school. Amongst those who work at faith schools, the number increased to almost half, with 46% feeling that faith impeded their ability to engage in open discussions.
NSS: Not considering faith-based RSE will "fail thousands of children"
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "If the government is to review how ideologised teaching and resources lead to distorted, biased or inaccurate RSE, this must extend to religious ideology.
"A failure to consider how religious ideology distorts RSE will not only demonstrate inconsistency on this issue – it will fail thousands of children at faith schools who are being taught that it is wrong to use contraception and it is wrong to be gay.
"We therefore urge the government to include faith-based teaching of RSE within the scope of its review to ensure the curriculum is impartial, objective, inclusive and free from unscientific ideology of all kinds."
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)
