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
Challenge to new Catholic school in Peterborough rejected
Posted: Thu, 13 Feb 2020 09:22
A challenge to a decision to open a new selective Catholic school in Peterborough has been rejected, despite strong backing from local residents and a National Secular Society intervention.
The council's decision to approve the school was debated at Peterborough City Council's scrutiny committee last night after three councillors formally challenged it, raising concerns over the process used to justify it.
NSS representative Megan Manson spoke during the debate and appealed to councillors to deliver a non-religious school with a community ethos which prioritised "inclusion, equality and fairness".
The Catholic school proposal was in direct competition with a non-faith based alternative, which is now almost certain not to be able to open.
The school will have voluntary aided (VA) status, meaning it will be entitled to take sweeping steps to enforce its religious ethos. It will admit 80% of its pupils on a religious basis if it is oversubscribed initially, and that number could potentially rise.
After the meeting NSS chief executive Stephen Evans described the decision as "deeply disappointing".
"Opening a new school which prioritises children from Catholic families and promotes the teachings of the Catholic Church is a divisive and discriminatory decision which serves the Catholic Church but badly lets down local residents.
"Where new schools are needed they should be inclusive, rather than organised around an exclusive religious ethos."
The Department for Education has already approved plans for the Catholic school, which is set to be the first state-funded Catholic school to open in England for a decade.
Councillor's statement against Catholic school
During the meeting Terri Haynes, one of the councillors who challenged the decision, questioned the data used to justify it and said it had "no local support, let alone demand".
"The parents of Hampton Water have essentially been told to 'like it or lump it' but they may find themselves forced to 'like it' against their will.
"This proposal creates an illusion of choice as the education system cannot hope to accommodate everyone's preferences and this school simply prioritises one group over another on the basis of their parent's faith.
"One day we may look back and wonder how we ever hoped to encourage unity when we allowed them to divide our youngest and most impressionable members."
She also questioned whether opening the school was an appropriate use of taxpayers' money.
Concerns over council's decision-making process
The council held a consultation before making the decision to approve the school's opening.
Eighty-three per cent of respondents were in favour of the school. But 127 people in the local postcode disagreed with the decision, with just 17 agreeing.
The councillors who challenged the decision said numerous local residents felt the council had failed to either inform or consult them properly.
Further notes on VA faith schools
- In VA faith schools 100% of running costs and 90%+ of the capital costs are paid by the state. In this case the local Catholic diocese's capital contribution comes from public funds, as the city council has an agreement with a major housing developer to provide the school building. The costs for this are being passed to initial house purchasers.
- VA faith schools are permitted to teach denominational religious education (inspected by the religious body that runs them, rather than Ofsted).
- VA faith schools can apply a religious test when hiring, promoting or retaining any teacher. In practice such discrimination is usually restricted to senior roles and RE teachers.
Councillors and residents who challenged the decision, with Megan Manson of the NSS (third left).
NSS urges council to reduce funding for transport to faith schools
Posted: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 17:02
The National Secular Society has urged the local council in Telford and Wrekin to end discretionary funding for transport to faith schools in response to a consultation.
Telford & Wrekin Council is considering removing discretionary travel assistance which it provides to families who choose to send their children to faith schools instead of their nearest school – even when their income is not low.
Councils are legally required to make arrangements for secondary pupils from low income backgrounds to attend the nearest school preferred on grounds of "religion or belief", where that school is between two and 15 miles from their home.
Currently Telford & Wrekin is among local authorities which provide preferential treatment beyond the statutory minimum requirements.
Its plans would remove funding to transport children to attend faith schools if they are not on a low income.
It has justified its plans on the grounds that faith schools – along with grammar schools and schools which are not "the nearest or qualifying" based on children's address – are a "parental preference".
In response to the consultation the NSS welcomed this and said school travel assistance "should always prioritise genuine need and access to suitable education, rather than simple parental preference".
An NSS spokesperson said: "Expecting the public to fund transport for families who choose to send their children greater distances to attend faith schools is unfair and unsustainable.
"Telford and Wrekin should press ahead with plans to end discretionary funding. Funding faith schooling and religious segregation shouldn't be a priority for hard-pressed councils."
The council's education and skills director defended the policy at a meeting of the council's children and young people scrutiny committee last month, where some councillors spoke in opposition to it.
The consultation has now closed and its results are being considered.
Image: School bus, © Thomas Nugent, via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.0]
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)
