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 not teaching any secular subjects, Ofsted finds
Posted: Wed, 8 Mar 2023 16:40
An independent faith school is teaching "no secular subjects" from Year 8 upwards, a new Ofsted report has revealed.
Talmud Torah Machzikei Hadass School, a Jewish school for boys in Hackney, was judged to be inadequate during its latest inspection, with Ofsted describing the curriculum as "narrow".
In the primary phase of the school, the only secular subjects are English, mathematics and science. Other secular subjects such as physical education and history are not taught.
Once pupils reached the secondary phase of the school, this curriculum is "narrowed further" according to Ofsted. Pupils only study a "Hebrew curriculum, with no secular subjects taught at all".
Ofsted said these "weaknesses" in the curriculum meant students are unable to develop their knowledge and skills.
Despite being informed of these weaknesses in previous inspections, the actions of leaders to secure necessary improvements were described by Ofsted as "not being taken quickly enough".
The report also criticised the school's leadership for giving "too little attention to putting in place a suitably broad and ambitious secular curriculum" and for failing to ensure pupils have the knowledge needed for "their future lives in modern Britain".
Ofsted also found that the school's programme for relationships and sex education (RSE) does not have regard for the Department for Education's statutory guidance on RSE, with school leaders failing to ensure the curriculum covers "all aspects of relationships education".
Pupils are not taught required content on "different types of respectful relationships" or the protected characteristics as specified in the Equality Act 2010. The curriculum does not encourage respect for these characteristics or explain how they are protected by law from discrimination.
Ofsted inspectors were prevented by the school's leadership from asking pupils about "specific aspects" of the PSHE and RSE curriculums, including content which is set out in statutory guidance.
The report also highlighted that failings identified during this inspection, particularly in relation to the quality of education, had been "repeatedly identified during previous inspections of the school".
Previous inspections have also judged the school to be inadequate, with none finding it of an acceptable standard since 2014.
A restriction imposed by the Secretary of State for Education preventing the school's proprietor from admitting any new pupils from 17 February 2022 onwards remains in place.
The school attracted controversy in 2015 after rabbis involved in its management said that women driving went against "the traditional rules of modesty" for their sect, and that children would be prevented from attending schools if they were driven there by their mothers.
NSS: 'Lack of any secular subjects appalling and harmful'
Jack Rivington, campaigns officer at the National Secular Society, said: "An institution which fails to teach any secular subjects is undeserving of being regarded as a school – its purpose is indoctrination, not education.
"By continuing to disregard the findings of Ofsted, and doing next to nothing to rectify its repeated failings, the school shows contempt both for inspectors and the independent school standards.
"Education should be about creating opportunities and possibilities for students – the restrictive curriculums of faith schools such as this one run totally contrary to those purposes, and are harmful to children."
Image by Darelle from Pixabay
Faith schools coercing families with ‘cultish’ practices, NSS finds
Posted: Mon, 27 Feb 2023 15:55
The National Secular Society has found faith schools are trying to control families' private lives, including parents' sex lives, through admissions policies.
A new NSS report reveals how 14 state-funded faith schools may be breaching human rights via their pupil admissions policies.
The report sets out how religious requirements in the oversubscription criteria of the schools' policies are being used to impose extreme religious ideology on families.
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.
The practice can also require women to submit evidence of their vaginal discharge to religious authorities in order to determine their 'purity' status, and consequently whether they are permitted to have sex or not.
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.
- That parents and children follow 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.
The report argues such rules are not compliant with the European Convention of Human Rights.
They also resemble rules imposed by high-control religious groups on their members, as identified by 'cult' watchdog The Family Survival Trust. Through these religious requirements, schools are exhibiting coercive and controlling behaviour, the NSS said.
'Coercive control' can be a criminal offence within the context of an interpersonal relationship.
School admissions procedures
Schools' oversubscription criteria are used to decide which applicants get a place when there are more applications than places available.
Most types of faith schools can prioritise applicants who share the religion of the school in their oversubscription criteria. Exemptions to equality legislation permit faith schools to discriminate against people on the basis of religion or belief in this way.
Applicants' religious beliefs are usually assessed via baptism status or their attendance at a place of worship.
Admissions policies must follow the School Admissions Code, which requires that oversubscription criteria are "reasonable, clear, objective, [and] procedurally fair" and compliant with "all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation".
Despite these requirements, several complaints from members of the public regarding extreme religious oversubscription criteria have been unsuccessful. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator, which determines whether a school's admissions policy complies with the code, has repeatedly decided not to uphold complaints against policies which include regressive religious practices.
The NSS's report recommends 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.
It also recommends a review of equality act exemptions for faith schools.
NSS: Imposition of "cult-like" rules is "deeply alarming"
NSS campaigns officer Jack Rivington said: "Our report demonstrates how the privilege and influence granted to religion in our education system enables practices which are intrusive and harmful to children and families, and which run contrary to human rights.
"It is deeply alarming that our taxes are being used to fund schools which impose cult-like rules on children and their families, and that the government body responsible for regulating school admissions policies has been incapable of curbing these practices.
"No school should be able to dictate the sex lives, clothing, internet access or diets of families, especially in the privacy of their own homes.
"But as long as discriminatory faith-based admissions are permitted, issues of the kind highlighted in our report will persist. The exemptions in equality law for faith schools, in addition to guidance on acceptable admissions policies, should therefore be examined as a matter of urgency".
The NSS has shared its findings with schools minister Nick Gibb and education select committee chair Robin Walker.
Notes
- Of the schools examined in the report, 12 have an Orthodox Jewish religious character and 2 have an Islamic religious character.
- All of the schools examined by the report are voluntary aided, which means the local authority funds all the school running costs and 90% of the building costs (in theory the religious body pays for 10% of the building costs).
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)
