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 belonging in decline in Scotland, official survey finds
Posted: Thu, 17 Sep 2020 17:56
The National Secular Society has called for a rethink of religion's privileged role in Scotland's education system after official data showed a solid majority of Scots do not belong to a religion.
In the Scottish Household Survey 2019 annual report, which Scotland's chief statistician published on Tuesday, 56% of adults reported that they did not belong to any religion.
The figure, which stood at just 40% in 2009, has risen by four per cent since the 2018 report.
Meanwhile the proportion of adults who say they belong to the Church of Scotland has sharply declined since 2009, from 34% to 20%.
Scotland's state schools are predominantly divided into denominational Catholic schools and non-denominational schools.
Local authorities in Scotland are legally required to appoint three religious representatives to sit on local authority education committees. At least one of these must come from the Church of Scotland and in most cases, at least one from the Catholic Church.
The NSS campaigns to end religious representatives' automatic right to sit on local authority education committees and for children to be educated together in secular schools.
NSS comment
Responding to the survey findings, NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "With religious belonging in decline, the sectarian divisions in Scotland's education system are looking ever more archaic, nonsensical and counter-productive.
"The Scottish government should take this opportunity to reconsider Scotland's system of non-denominational and denominational schools, and religious representatives' privileged role on local authority education committees."
Further evidence of declining religiosity
- Other recent research appears to corroborate this week's findings on religiosity in Scotland. In 2017 the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that 58% of Scots had no religion.
See also: If we want a tolerant Scotland, let's educate children together, by Alastair Lichten.
Thousands sent to faith schools against their families’ preferences
Posted: Tue, 1 Sep 2020 08:43
More than 130,000 children have been sent to faith schools in England despite their parents expressing a preference for a non-faith school since 2014, National Secular Society research has revealed.
The society has found that 132,216 children were assigned to faith schools despite their families listing a non-faith school as their first preference between 2014 and 2020.
Almost a fifth (26,163) of those pupils were assigned to schools which their families hadn't listed as preferences at all.
The NSS's figures were derived from Department for Education responses to freedom of information requests. The research also revealed that, in 2020:
- 20,340 pupils were sent to faith schools despite their families listing a non-faith school as their first preference. This number was similar to the equivalent figure for 2019, and had risen from 16,824 in 2014.
- 11,519 of those were at secondary level and 8,821 were at primary level.
- More than 4,200 of those were assigned schools which their families hadn't listed as preferences at all.
NSS comment
NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "Proponents of faith schools often defend them on the grounds of parental choice. But every year the state is pushing religion on thousands of children against their families' preferences.
"Disappointingly the government continues to open new faith schools even as the evidence against them stacks up. Ministers should look to roll back faith schools and open inclusive, secular schools which enable children to make their own minds up about religion.
"If they won't commit to that they should at least ensure every child has a right to a suitable secular school within a reasonable distance, so families can be free from religion if they choose."
Latest government support for faith schools
- The schools proposed in the latest wave of the government's free schools programme include 19 faith schools – 14 Christian, three Islamic and two Sikh.
- In July the education secretary claimed faith schools provide "greater choice for parents – of all faiths and of none" in an address to the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Previous NSS research
- In 2018 a major NSS report, The Choice Delusion, found that almost three in 10 families in England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools.
- The report's recommendations included that:
- National and local government should monitor faith-based restrictions on school choice.
- Faith-based discrimination in school admissions should be phased out.
- A moratorium should be introduced on the opening of new faith schools and it should be easier for faith schools to lose their religious designation, particularly where they are unrepresentative of local communities.
- All families should be legally entitled to have reasonable access to a non-faith school.
Difficulties finding secular education
A number of signatories to the NSS's No More Faith Schools petition have spoken of difficulties finding a secular education for their children.
For example signatory Victoria, from Medway, said her son had been placed in a faith school despite the fact it was not one of her six choices, and he would be required to attend "all Catholic services".
And Anne from Milton Keynes said a child where she lived would have to travel "at least six miles to attend a secular school, passing several church schools along the way".
Press coverage and DfE response
The NSS's findings were reported in iNews on Tuesday morning. The Department for Education told the paper it was "committed to offering parents and children a diverse education system, which includes the option of faith schools".
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)
