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
Independent Jewish school that censors resources warned by DfE
Posted: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 15:50
An independent Orthodox Jewish school in north London that prevents pupils from gaining GCSEs by censoring resources has been given a damning inspection report and a government warning notice.
Leaders at Bnois Jerusalem Girls' School in Hackney arrange for all textbooks and other resources to be censored before pupils get them, according to a report from the education watchdog Ofsted.
The school's June Ofsted report said images and text "deemed not to be in line with the traditions and religious teaching of the Jewish faith" were "redacted or covered over with blank paper". Pupils were "often unaware" of the censorship because the censored worksheets are photocopied.
Ofsted said this had a "negative impact" on pupils' learning and pupils were unable to sit external GCSEs or other qualifications as a result.
The inspectors said pupils sat internal school exams "made up of censored past papers" but the results had "no value outside of the community". The report said this process denied pupils "equality of opportunity" as it did not enable them to progress to a school or college of their choice.
The school was rated 'inadequate' in all areas. Other failings identified by Ofsted included leaders not encouraging "respect for all groups who share protected characteristics" and "ineffective" safeguarding.
The report also noted that inspectors were unable to speak to pupils because parents had withdrawn consent. This meant the school was unable to provide all the evidence needed in a number of important areas.
In response to the school's "serious regulatory failings", the Department for Education (DfE) issued it with a warning notice in November. The DfE published the notice on Thursday.
Independent schools that receive warning notices must submit an action plan, showing how they will meet the independent school standards, or face closure.
Bnois Jerusalem was one of eight independent faith schools to be issued warning notices in November.
Three more of these schools were Jewish schools in north London. Lubavitch Senior Boys' School, another Orthodox school in Hackney, was also rated "inadequate" in all areas by Ofsted. Its June inspection report said safeguarding was "not effective", pupils' welfare was "inadequate" and the curriculum was "unbalanced" because most of the school day was dedicated to religious studies.
Ofsted inspectors were only permitted to speak to three pupils at Wiznitz Cheder School, also in Hackney, as parents and carers of all the other children had withdrawn consent. The school's June report said its "narrow curriculum" and "very limited schemes of work" meant pupils were "ill-prepared for life in British society". Additionally, leaders failed to "encourage respect or appreciation of a range of cultures other than their own".
Beis Medrash Elyon in Hendon was criticised for a lack of "breadth and balance" in the secular curriculum, a lack of "impartial advice" about future careers, and "insufficient opportunities" to learn about life in Britain.
At the School of the Islamic Republic of Iran, located in Brent in north London, inspectors found that achievement in all subjects was "weak". Safeguarding was "not effective" and pupils were not given work that will prepare them for the next stage of their education.
Ofsted found resources at Birmingham Muslim School were "not ideal" and that at times pupils repeated work they could already do rather than moving on to more demanding work. The report also noted that a member of staff had been issued with an interim prohibition from teaching order since the previous inspection.
Bhaktivedanta Manor School, an ISKCON ('Hare Krishna') school in Watford, had a "poor culture of safeguarding", according to an inspection report issued in September. The report added that the school's leaders had a "vastly overinflated view of the school's effectiveness".
An Independent Schools Inspectorate report into Derby Grammar School, a Church of England school, found that the school failed to check all staff from barred lists or give appropriate safeguarding training to all staff. It added that staff did not always act on safeguarding concerns appropriately.
Alastair Lichten, education and schools officer at the National Secular Society, said these schools "can be added to the spiralling list of independent faith 'schools' found to be totally inadequate".
"The descriptions of censorship, narrow curricula, misinformation, unqualified teachers, inequity, incompetence and isolationism will be all too familiar to those who follow this subject.
"Schools should be engines of opportunity, not incubators of ignorance and factories of segregation. Censoring information and inculcating narrow worldviews, without fostering the critical thinking necessary for young people to make up their own minds and choose their own futures, violates the most fundamental values of education.
"Where school leaders are hostile to inspections and actively thwarting efforts to improve, alarm bells should certainly be ringing. Where faith is prioritised over education, it is little wonder schools lack the capacity for the most routine safeguarding processes.
"The schools may be private institutions, but we all fail as a society if we do not protect children's welfare and basic rights no matter what school they attend."
Most maintained rural primary schools are faith schools, data shows
Posted: Tue, 18 Dec 2018 14:00
The National Secular Society has again said the government should monitor faith-based impositions on school choice after the revelation that 55% of maintained rural English primary schools are faith schools.
NSS analysis of a Department for Education (DfE) list, which was updated on Monday, has revealed that 1,930 of England's 3,541 local authority-run rural primary schools are faith schools.
Almost 1,800 of those schools were run exclusively by the Church of England, with a further 14 run by the C of E jointly with the Methodist Church or United Reformed Church.
Ninety-four were Catholic schools, 24 had a different Christian designation and two were Jewish.
Fifty-five per cent of schools on the government's list are voluntary aided (VA) or voluntary controlled (VC). Almost all VA and VC schools are faith schools. Some schools which do not have an officially designated religious character are also run according to a faith ethos.
Almost 1,200 of the 3,541 schools designated as rural were VC, while 757 were voluntary aided. One hundred and sixty-five (five per cent) were foundation schools, some of which were faith schools.
Scheduled school closures may also make the relative shortage of secular schools in rural areas more acute. Ninety-three of the schools on the list are proposed to close, a majority (52) of which have no religious character.
Local authorities are legally bound to consider the impact of designated rural primary school closures on local communities, including by considering what alternatives are available.
The data supports the findings of the NSS's recent report The Choice Delusion, which found there were 'high' or 'extreme' restrictions on secular schooling in 43% of rural areas.
The NSS's report revealed that almost three in 10 families across England live in areas where most or all of the closest primary schools are faith schools. Families in rural areas were worst affected by the lack of secular education provision. Almost 8,000 families who missed out on their first choice of a non-faith primary school in September 2018 were assigned a faith school.
The NSS found that 53% of rural primary schools in England are faith-based. Its analysis included academies.
A common complaint among rural families was that the only school in the village was a faith school.
One parent told the NSS: "Too frequently you have to either send your child to a school miles away from your home, or send them to your local faith school and have them be educated about things you do not believe in."
Another said: "I work in a village VC school and have seen the pressure to evangelise to children rising. It's even worse in VA schools. I wouldn't want my child to attend a faith school but might have no choice if I lived in a village."
After publishing the report the NSS wrote to the DfE to urge it to monitor faith-based restrictions on school choice and suitability and ensure all parents have reasonable access to a non-faith based school.
NSS education and schools officer Alastair Lichten reiterated the call in light of the DfE's figures.
"Our analysis of these figures is a stark reminder that many rural families cannot reasonably access religiously-neutral education for their children.
"As a first step the government must ensure it takes reasonable steps to protect families' ability to send their children to secular schools. In the longer term the government should place a moratorium on the opening of new schools and then roll them back so all state-funded schools are free from religious control and discrimination."
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)
