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
NSS calls for action on religious homophobia in report to UN
Posted: Wed, 18 Jan 2023 11:54
The National Secular Society has highlighted the role of religion in discrimination against LGBT people in a submission to the United Nations.
It said the UK's established church, education and charity sector enable "state-condoned homophobia".
The NSS called for the government to tackle religious threats to LGBT equality in response to a call for evidence from the UN Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender (IE SOGI).
The IE SOGI is examining the relationship between freedom of religion or belief and discrimination against LGBT people. They will present their findings to the UN Human Rights Council later this year.
The NSS raised the following issues:
Established church
The doctrine of the Anglican church holds that gay sex is a sin and same-sex marriage is incompatible with scripture. This was most recently reaffirmed by the archbishop of Canterbury at the Lambeth conference last year.
The NSS said the government must take the necessary steps to disestablish the Church of England and abolish the bishops' bench, as it is unacceptable for any institution acting as part of the state to uphold homophobic values.
Schools
State-funded faith schools are permitted, under government guidance, to teach relationship and sex education (RSE) in line with their "distinctive faith perspective on relationships". This allows many schools, especially Catholic ones, to teach that homosexuality is wrong.
The issue also extends to nonreligious schools. In 2019, Parkfield School was targeted by Muslim activists for its 'No Outsiders' programme, which promoted LGBT rights. Last year, Khakan Qureshi, a gay Muslim man, received death threats after telling pupils at Wood Green Academy that Islam and homosexuality are compatible.
The NSS said the government must ensure schools are fulfilling their legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010 to teach inclusive RSE, without intimidation from religious fundamentalists.
Charities
"The advancement of religion" is a recognised charitable purpose in UK law. The NSS highlighted how this enables charities to promote homophobia as part of their religious doctrine. This includes charities which conduct so-called 'conversion therapy', such as Core Issues Trust.
The NSS said organisations which promote homophobia should not be permitted to register as charities.
Equality Act exemptions
The NSS said the government must re-examine exemptions for religious organisations in the Equality Act. It argued that while some exemptions may be reasonable, they are too often used to discriminate against LGBT people. In 2015, for example, a gay vicar who claimed his bishop had discriminated against him by denying him a post as a hospital chaplain lost his case at an employment tribunal.
NSS: State should not "endorse or condone" religious homophobia
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "All too often, freedom of religion or belief is interpreted as the right for beliefs to be protected, rather than people.
"Such an approach is frequently detrimental to oppressed groups including LGBT people.
"While religious people should be allowed to follow their beliefs, those beliefs must not be imposed on anyone. Nor should the state in any way endorse or condone homophobia, including religious homophobia.
"A secular democracy, which gives no privilege to religious ideas, is the best means of tackling tensions between religious freedom and the right of LGBT people to live free from discrimination and violence."
Panel wrongly questions child’s religion at appeal for faith school entry
Posted: Fri, 13 Jan 2023 13:43
A child rejected by a faith school had his baptism status wrongly queried by an admissions appeal panel, an ombudsman has found.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman upheld a mother's complaint against Cardinal Heenan Catholic School in Liverpool after her child, 'N', was refused a place there, according to a recent decision report.
The ombudsman found the appeals panel wrongly took into account N's unbaptised status, while ignoring factors that made Cardinal Heenan more suitable for him, during the second stage of the appeal process.
"Vulnerable" child rejected due to lack of baptism
N's mother, 'M', applied for a place at the school for him to start Year 7 in September 2022. Cardinal Heenan prioritises children who are baptised Catholic in its admissions, but N was not baptised.
Exemptions for faith schools in equality law enable them to prioritise applicants on the grounds of religion. Because the school was oversubscribed, all places went to either looked-after children or baptised children.
N was instead allocated a school which would require him to take four buses and travel two and a half hours every school day.
M appealed for N to be admitted due to his special educational and health needs, including anxiety. She submitted a letter from N's junior school highlighting his "increased need for support". N was also being assessed for an education, health and care plan.
She also sent the appeal panel his educational psychology report which confirmed N was "vulnerable". It said: "the expectations of [N] to travel independently on two buses to and from school each day is wholly inappropriate".
M also told the panel she would face logistical problems getting N and his sibling to different schools, and that he had friends going to Cardinal Heenan. She added that N lacked road sense.
M said N was attending the local church every week with a view to being baptised, but this was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Panel repeatedly questions mother over baptism
While it was appropriate for the panel to consider N's baptism status at the first stage of the appeal, it should not have been a factor at the second stage. At the second stage, the panel should only consider whether the reasons a child should be admitted outweigh the school's reasons for not admitting any more children at all.
However, at the second stage, the panel repeatedly interrogated M about why N was not baptised.
This included asking M why she had not had N baptised before the pandemic, and why she did not have a letter of explanation from the church explaining his lack of baptism.
The panel did not make any reference to N's anxiety, the support he would need, his lack of road sense or the commuting he needed to do. They also did not consider the logistical problems his mother would face.
The panel rejected M's appeal, causing her family "a great deal of stress". The decision report said N is remaining at home and is not attending any school.
Ombudsman: Questions on religion "went way beyond" remit
The ombudsman upheld M's complaint and found the panel at fault on multiple aspects of the appeal process, including considering N's baptism status at the second stage of the appeal.
It criticised the panel's excessive questioning of M on religion, which "went well beyond merely trying to establish whether the admission policy was properly applied".
It was also "not satisfied" that the first stage of the appeal was conducted "in a fair and transparent way".
The ombudsman required the school to apologise to M, review why the faults happened, and arrange a rehearing of her appeal.
NSS: 'Priority given to religion leads to harm'
Jack Rivington, campaigns officer at the National Secular Society, said: "This case demonstrates how allowing faith schools to discriminate against pupils and their families on the basis of religion can lead to other important considerations, including health and special educational needs, being disregarded.
"As a result, the family in question have been put through needless suffering and stress, with the child not attending school after being refused a place.
"As long as faith schools are allowed to discriminate on matters of religion in their admissions, children will continue to be harmed in this way, and families subjected to ordeals of the kind revealed in this case. Faith schools' exemptions from equality law must therefore be ended."
Image: Shutterstock
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)
