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
Investigation launched after weapons seized at independent faith school
Posted: Wed, 18 Jul 2018 12:20
The Charity Commission has launched a statutory inquiry into Darul Uloom School London after the school's safeguarding lead and headteacher were arrested related to firearms offences.
On 30 June armed police arrived at the independent school in South London following reports of a man believed to be seen with a firearm and arrested a teacher, Yusef Musa along with his father. Musa was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. The Department for Education began proceedings to close the school before a settlement was reached.
The school – which advertises itself as "one of London's Leading Islamic Institute's [sic] of Higher Islamic Education and Secondary Education" – teaches a religious curriculum in the morning, with secular studies in the afternoon. It aims for its students to "become imams and religious leaders in the future, serving the Muslim community in the UK, and making a positive contribution towards social cohesion in our multi-cultural society". The school has had a series of negative Ofsted reviews.
In the 2018 Integration Green Paper, the Government proposed "a working group to identify the barriers to Dar ul Ulooms (Islamic theological institutes) and other religious seminaries achieving higher education accreditation of the qualifications they offer".
At the time, the NSS warned that against encouraging links between universities and Darul-'Ulooms:
"Darul-'Ulooms are a 19th-century style of religious academy. The many Darul-'Uloom academies in the UK are direct imports from Pakistan and north India. We understand that they are of Deobandi orientation, meaning that they are likely to adhere to fundamentalist theology, notably in their attitudes to non-Muslims and life in non-Muslim societies. This short example from a South African Darul Uloom argues that Muslims should not shake the hands of non-Muslims.
"One Ofsted report on a Birmingham Darul-'Uloom stated that: 'A large number of copies of a leaflet containing highly concerning and extremist views, such as "Music, dancing and singing are acts of devil and prohibited", were discovered during the inspection.' The school responded by calling the inspection 'racist'."
"It should also be noted that all Darul-'Ulooms registered in England appear to be single-sex (male), meaning that women are currently unable to access this form of education."
National Secular Society education and schools officer, Alastair Lichten, said: "This is a particularly extreme example of the growing concerns about independent faith schools. Steps must be taken to ensure children in such settings are not being put at risk, or having their education and life opportunities restricted."
Former education secretary renews call for reform of religion in schools
Posted: Tue, 17 Jul 2018 17:05
Religious education should be replaced with a new national 'Religion, Belief and Values' subject, a former education secretary has recommended.
The call to reform RE is one of a number of recommendations from a new report from Charles Clarke (education secretary 2002-04) and Linda Woodhead (professor of sociology of religion at Lancaster University) – A New Settlement Revised: Religion and Belief in Schools – a follow up to their 2015 report.
The National Secular Society has broadly welcomed the proposals to reform RE but branded other aspect of the report a "disappointing surrender to vested interests".
The suggested reforms to RE are broadly in line with the National Secular Society's call for legislative change to replace current laws surrounding RE with a new national entitlement for religion and belief learning.
The report recommends that a new syllabus and curriculum for Religion, Belief and Values (RBV) should be determined by a national 'Advisory Council on Religion, Beliefs and Values' (ACRBV), appointed by the secretary of state.
The body would represent "a balance between different faiths and beliefs", but with members "selected for their relevant expertise, and not in order to represent any particular faith or belief".
The report reiterates the widely held view that the current arrangements for RE – where it is devised by SACRES/ASC (Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education/Agreed Syllabus Conferences) – are not fit for purpose.
The authors however backtrack on previous recommendations that seemed to suggest any instructional/confessional RE should be separated from the academic subject. The latest report states: "of course all schools would be entitled to offer a wider syllabus, and more study, inside or outside school hours." The report does however reiterate calls for Ofsted to inspect religion and belief education, community cohesion and assemblies in all schools.
The report recommends that the right to withdraw from RBV should end following reform.
The report supports the continued existence of faith schools, recommending that "Children of families of faith should where possible be able to attend schools of that faith, and that their current legal right to be given priority in the admissions process should not be removed".
The authors are clear, however, that moves to phase out religious selection are "highly beneficial" and call on churches and other faith bodies to make "strong and continues progress in reducing the numbers of their schools where faith is a criterion for admission".
Arrangements which enable faith schools to discriminate in their employment should be kept "under review, the report says.
On collective worship, the report appears to backtrack on the authors' 2015 recommendation that the legal duty on schools to hold an act of daily (usually Christian collective worship) be repealed. The report cites "important elements of Church of England opinion" as the reason behind their change of mind, along with a concern that abolishing the statutory requirement for collective worship will undermine assemblies.
Responding to the report, NSS education and schools officer, Alastair Lichten, said:
"Some of the proposals represent baby steps in the right direction, but the report overall appears to be an admission that much needed reforms are not possible without the approval of religious bodies. That is a worrying state of affairs for a modern education system – and again highlights the urgent need to separate religion and state in all areas – particularly education.
"Much of the positives in the report come across as watered down versions of proposals already widely supported in the educational community. The backsliding from the previous report highlights how the privileged position of organised religion in state education is leading to an expedient acceptance of standards that are lower than is desirable."
The National Secular society is campaigning for:
An inclusive and secular education system, with an end to state funded faith schools.
Schools to be brought under the Equality Act to end to religious discrimination against pupils in admissions and against teachers in employment, unless an occupational requirement can be demonstrated.
All pupils to have the same national entitlement to high quality, non-partisan education about religion and belief.
Abolition of the law that requires schools to hold acts of worship. We would instead like to see a duty on schools to ensure that all aspects of its curriculum, including assemblies, are respectful and inclusive of all pupils, regardless of their religion or belief, including non-belief.
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)
