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
Religious opt-outs from RSE harming women’s health, report says
Posted: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 09:11
Religious exemptions from sex education at schools should be removed to protect women's health, experts have said.
The recommendation was also made by the National Secular Society in its response to a consultation on the government's strategy on women's health last year.
Last week the Department of Health and Social Care reported on the consultation responses, which also highlighted religious barriers to reproductive rights and the role of religion in violence against women and girls.
RSE "with no exemptions"
The NSS said religious opt-outs and exceptions for relationships and sex education (RSE) enable some faith schools to teach stigmatising ideas about contraception, abortion, menstruation and same-sex relationships.
The report said organisations and experts recommended that the government "review the variation" in RSE taught across all schools to ensure young people can access "unbiased and inclusive information". They said RSE should be taught to all students "with no exemptions for individuals or institutions", and include challenging "the perception that a woman's or girl's worth is connected to virginity".
Respondents said girls who attend religious schools or who are withdrawn from school do not have access to "the same level of unbiased, quality information on sexual health, contraception and abortion".
Reproductive rights
The NSS's response raised concerns that at some pharmacies staff have refused to provide women emergency contraception, citing religious reasons.
The concerns were repeated in the report, which said experts and organisations recommend "better education and guidance for healthcare professionals, including pharmacists" on giving women "unbiased information on the different types of contraceptives (including emergency contraception) available".
Respondents also recommended increasing use of virtual appointments and at-home abortions. The NSS supported an amendment to the Health and Care Bill which allows early medical abortion medicine to be taken at home.
Violence against women and girls
The NSS's submission was one of 77 responses which touched on the impact of violence against women and girls on women's health. It highlighted the role of religion in 'honour' crimes, female genital mutilation (FGM), and 'virginity testing' and 'repair' (hymenoplasty) procedures.
The report said organisations and experts recommended a ban on virginity testing and hymenoplasty. The NSS is supporting measures in the Health and Care Bill to outlaw both procedures.
NSS comment
NSS head of policy and research Megan Manson said: "It is encouraging that this report has acknowledged concerns raised by ourselves and others about religious threats to the health and wellbeing of women and girls.
"These findings must now be translated into policies to ensure women's health is never undermined by religious institutions. Religious exemptions to objective and inclusive RSE must be removed, access to reproductive healthcare guaranteed, and religious ideology underpinning violence against women robustly challenged."
NSS calls on Wigan Council to rethink non-faith school closure
Posted: Tue, 12 Apr 2022 11:24
The National Secular Society has called on a council not to close a community primary school, warning the move would devastate local secular school provision.
The NSS has been supporting families in the Abram area of Wigan, where Wigan Council must consider closing either Holy Family Catholic Primary School (a Catholic faith school) or Abram Bryn Gates Primary School (a community school) to address financial issues arising from falling pupil numbers.
Earlier this year, the council bought forward plans to close the community school, despite warnings from the NSS that this may breach their duty to provide "appropriate education".
In its response to the council's most recent consultation on the issue, the NSS argued the council's reasoning for their decision to close the community school did not give adequate consideration to their Education Act or Human Rights Act duties, or guidance on maintaining the "balance of denomination provision".
NSS analysis shows 81% of postcodes in Wigan, and 90% of postcodes in the Abram ward, already experience "high" or "extreme" restrictions on the choice of a non-faith primary school.
And its analysis of school places figures provided by the council indicates that if Abram Bryn Gates were to close, 69% of pupils would be reassigned to faith schools.
In a March 2022 report to cabinet, the council acknowledges parents of children at Abram Bryn Gates Primary "have specifically chosen a nonfaith school for their child".
The report says: "There is no desire for their children to be taught in a faith-based school. There are no other community non-faith based schools available within the area or within a reasonable distance of where children live that have places available."
The council's analysis recognised there is "no preferred option by stakeholders". In response to a consultation last year, 45% of respondents supported the closure of Holy Family, while 47% supported closing of Abram Bryn Gates. Both schools have similar budgetary, levels of undersubscription and Ofsted results.
Comments
NSS head of education, Alastair Lichten, said: "Closing Abram Bryn Gates will be bitterly disappointing to many families and highlight the desperate need to address the bias against secular schools in such considerations.
"While imagining a duty to 'provide a Catholic school place for all', the council continues to treat parents' opting for a community school as not worthy of protection or adequate consideration."
Local resident Julie told the NSS: "Closing this school would not only devastate pupils and staff but rip the heart out of the community too. Choice of non-faith schools is already limited for parents."
Another parent, Janine, commented: "Closing ABG is a joke! There are no other schools in this area for children who aren't religious.
"It's a fantastic school and if it closes children will be forced to go travel miles to go to another school many of which are full and have no places available anyway."
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)
