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 to address legacy of 1944 Education Act in lecture
Posted: Thu, 12 Dec 2019 14:37
The National Secular Society is to consider the impact of the 1944 Education Act, which brought hundreds of faith schools into the state sector, in a lecture in February.
Dr Keith Sharpe, the chair of the NSS's Secular Education Forum, will deliver The 1944 Education Act and its legacy at Conway Hall in London on Monday 10 February 2020.
The act, which continues to influence the structure of education in England and Wales, introduced free primary and secondary education for all for the first time and required daily worship in schools.
It also created a system where faith schools – some voluntary aided, where religious groups tend to have most influence in management, and some voluntary controlled – were distinguished from community schools.
The act is also commonly known as the Butler Act after the MP Richard Austen Butler, who was the driving force behind it.
Explaining his plans for the lecture, Keith Sharpe said:
"The 1944 Education Act was in its time an extraordinary political achievement, creating a post-war consensual framework for a more equitable system of schooling. But it and subsequent acts of parliament also embedded religious control over schools, with an impact on the education system in England and Wales that endures today.
"This event will explain how that came to be and make the case for reconsidering religious groups' privileged position in the education system, so it's fit for the demands of the third decade of the 21st century."
NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "The Butler Act has had a remarkable influence on education in England and Wales. Some of this has indisputably been for the better, but it also means religious groups continue to enjoy a privileged influence in our schools.
"The legacy of the act and the need for change require careful consideration and we very much look forward to Dr Sharpe's lecture."
The event starts at 7pm, with registration opening at 6:30. It is free to attend but the NSS recommends booking in advance.
Jewish schools pressured parents to opt children out of sex ed
Posted: Tue, 3 Dec 2019 15:37
Parents have said two state-funded Jewish schools pressurised them to opt their children out of relationships and sex education, with one asking parents to "prevent" RSE from being taught.
Tuesday morning's BBC Victoria Derbyshire programme highlighted efforts to shut down RSE at Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls' School and Lubavitch Senior Girls' School, two Orthodox Jewish state schools in north London.
RSE is due to become compulsory in schools in England from September 2020. The National Secular Society has repeatedly raised concerns with the Department for Education that some faith schools would pressure parents to withdraw their children from RSE.
Email at Lubavitch Senior Girls' School
An email to parents at Lubavitch read: "The problem is the government is making the subject mandatory in September 2020. However, parents have the right to opt out.
"Please exercise your right to prevent it being taught by responding to this email and saying that you do not wish your daughters to receive lessons in RSE."
One mother told the programme the email was "designed to put a stop to RSE being taught" at the school. She also said there was an attempt to prevent children from being exposed to the fact that "people with different sexualities exist".
Lubavitch was caught encouraging families to opt children out of RSE earlier this year, an issue which the NSS raised with incoming education secretary Gavin Williamson.
Recording from Yesodey Hatorah
In a secretly recorded phone call with a parent, a member of staff at Yesodey Hatorah said the school was encouraging all parents to write in. The letters would say parents did not want their children taught about single-sex relationships or sex education.
The parent told the programme the affected children need sex education "more than any other child in the country" because of insular attitudes within the local Orthodox Jewish community.
One former pupil at Yesodey Hatorah, who has since left the community, also told the programme she had been taught nothing about sex at school.
She added that references to sex had been redacted from science textbooks and that she "freaked out" when she was first told about it, weeks before her wedding.
Parents fearful of consequences of defiance
In response to the BBC's findings Lubavitch Senior Girls' School said a complaint would be investigated if the parent lodged it according to its complaints policy. The parent said she was too scared to do that.
The parent at Yesodey Hatorah added that she would have been "alienated or ostracised" if she had not sent the letter opting her children out of RSE.
NSS response
NSS education and schools officer Alastair Lichten described the revelations as "disturbing but predictable".
"Religion cannot be an excuse to shield children from knowledge which is vital to their own wellbeing and that of others.
"It's no surprise that faith schools, particularly those with a strict religious ethos, would try to shield children from knowledge about relationships and sex. But the government's failure to stand up to them is concerning.
"Ministers in the next government must not allow faith schools to evade expectations on this vital issue."
Earlier this year the NSS revealed that Orthodox Jewish schools in the state and independent sectors were planning to exploit government loopholes to avoid teaching the subject.
Image: Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls' School.
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)
