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
Church lobbies to make closing rural schools easier
Posted: Tue, 10 Jul 2018 12:05
Secular school campaigners have called for the Church of England to "give up some control" where flexibility may save some small rural schools.
Lobbying by the Church to make rural school closures easier was revealed by TES in a section of the Church's report Embracing Change: Rural and Small Schools.
The TES reported that the Church is confident that Department for Education is "very open" to the change, but that the proposal is opposed by National Association of Small Schools.
The opening and closing of maintained schools statutory guidance currently requires that the case for any rural school closure "should be strong and a proposal must be clearly in the best interests of educational provision in the area". Related guidance says that decision makers "should not normally approve the closure of a school with a religious character where the proposal would result in a reduction in the proportion of relevant denominational places in the area."
No More Faith Schools campaigner Alastair Lichten said that rural faith schools "present unique and varied challenges to secular education" as in many rural areas Church of England faith schools are the only option. More than 70% of small rural schools are C of E faith schools.
"This is becoming more of a problem for freedom of belief, as the Church pressures these schools to promote a more rigorous religious ethos."
In May the NSS reported on a C of E faith school in the village of Ripley facing closure because of the diocese's refusal to let it join a secular academy trust – something the NSS called "academisation entirely on the Church of England's terms".
With changing demographics and academisation causing pressure, the report acknowledges that many "small rural schools could not continue to operate as stand-alone units" – leading to a need for them to "come together in formal groupings". But the NSS has warned that the Church's insistence that C of E schools join Church-backed multi academy trusts (MATs) – where the Church appoints a majority of trustees – or that the Church be able to appoint its own trustees to mixed faith/nonfaith MATs is reducing flexibility.
Mr Lichten said: "The guidance states that decision makers should carefully consider 'alternatives to the closure of a school'. But the C of E seems to effectively have a veto over any alternative arrangements it feels may loosen its control.
"Providing a simpler route for Voluntary Controlled schools that are entirely funded by local authorities to lose their religious designation, or join secular academy trusts without the Church gaining decision-making power in the trust, would give rural schools more flexibility. In some cases, like Ripley's, this flexibility could make the difference between a rural community keeping or losing its school. Sadly the Church are prioritising control over provision.
"Rural school closures are always complicated decisions which evoke strong feelings. Communities can't always be get what they want, but for fairness' sake they should at least be sure decisions aren't distorted by a religious agenda."
Study: faith schools’ entry policies are complex and inconsistent
Posted: Fri, 6 Jul 2018 16:43
Faith schools' admissions policies are complex and difficult to navigate and the problem hurts parents from poorer and non-faith backgrounds the most, according to a study of schools in Leicester.
One of the study's authors, Professor Linda Woodhead, said it revealed "a labyrinthine system of selection criteria". She added that new Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Catholic faith schools were "in practice closed to all but the most religiously strict and practising members of their own faiths".
Her co-author and colleague at Lancaster University, Dr Mairi Levitt, said the problem was particularly pronounced in schools where pupils enjoyed greater academic success.
"Although some faith schools, particularly Christian ones, are open to those of other faiths, they tend to be academically less successful. Conversely, schools with higher academic success are more likely to be oversubscribed and to employ stricter selection criteria."
The authors said the "sheer complexity" of faith schools' admissions criteria was one of their "most striking findings". They added that there was "little consistency between schools" on admissions. Some policies focused on parental faith while others concentrated on the child, and often there were multiple criteria.
Even when faith schools are obliged by law to assign some of their places without reference to faith, the authors said their selection criteria are "so complex and demanding" that they deter those from outside the faith from applying.
The study found families from poorer backgrounds with under-achieving community schools and those who did not have a religious affiliation were worst hit by the problem. It said families who were best able to navigate the system or were actively religious benefited most.
It cited examples of faith schools explicitly giving priority to parents who submitted evidence of their religious observance. The city's six Catholic primary schools gave priority to children who were baptised Catholic, followed by: those baptised into another Christian denomination and who had been received into the Catholic faith; those being prepared for Catholic baptism; those baptised or dedicated in another Christian denomination; and those belonging to other faiths.
The study's authors said one of these criteria (those being prepared for Catholic baptism) should be considered invalid.
The schools also said they would give priority to those able to submit forms which verified their weekly attendance at mass.
One Hindu school asked for "an official temple stamp" and certification that "the family are practising Hindus" who either "'follow all the key tenets of the faith as practised by our Temple' or cannot verify that the family follow the key tenets 'but they do attend the Temple either regularly or irregularly'".
It added that the evidence was "mixed" on both faith schools' educational outcomes relative to other state schools and whether their existence enhanced or limited choice for parents in Leicester.
It said the problem of complex, inconsistent admissions policies was not confined to Leicester. It cited a 2015 report from the schools adjudicator which said appeals over faith school admissions criteria accounted for "a significant part of the adjudicator's workload" and most objections to them were upheld partially or fully.
The study focused on Leicester because of its multi-ethnic, multi-faith population and the diversity of faith schools in the city.
No More Faith Schools campaigner Alastair Lichten said the study was "a reminder of the farcical and counter-productive situation created by the existence of state-funded faith schools".
"It's absurd that public money is being spent devising criteria which segregate children and actively hinder families who cannot play the system. Rolling back faith schools and ending religious entrance criteria would simplify the arrangements for school admissions, create a fairer system for all and contribute to a more cohesive society.
"When you bear in mind that it would also save the taxpayer money in the process, it becomes abundantly clear that ending religious discrimination and rolling back faith schools is just common sense."
The National Secular Society has long campaigned for inclusive schooling for children from any faith-related background or none, and against religious discrimination in school admissions. In May the government abandoned plans to lift the 50% cap on faith-based admissions to new free schools in England but said it would pave the way for a new wave of religiously selective voluntary-aided faith schools.
Earlier this year the schools adjudicator ruled that Catholic schools could accept a certificate signed by a priest as a reason to give pupils priority in admissions. At the time the NSS said the implications of the decision were "outrageous". The adjudicator had previously upheld a series of complaints against the certificate.
In 2016 a Sutton Trust report revealed that the most socially selective schools were often faith schools using oversubscription criteria to select disproportionately wealthy pupils.
Professor Woodhead's previous research has found that parents rarely consider faith to be an important reason to choose a school. A nationally representative study of Great Britain which she commissioned with YouGov in 2013 found that just five per cent of parents thought 'grounding of pupils in a faith tradition' was important, with just three per cent saying the same about 'transmission of belief in God'.
The top factors influencing the choice of a school were academic standards (77%), location (58%), discipline record (41%) and ethical values (23%).
Leicester has state-funded faith schools designated as Church of England, Roman Catholic, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim. There are 13 state-funded faith schools for primary age children in the city (serving 165 of the population) and five at secondary level (serving 17% of the population).
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)
