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: Faith must not restrict pupils' access to sex education
Posted: Fri, 9 Feb 2018 07:05
The National Secular Society has told the Government that young people's access to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) should not be restricted on religious grounds.
The NSS also said RSE and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) teaching should be "underpinned by a strong human rights framework". It said the core ideas behind RSE should be linked to corresponding rights such as consent, equality and bodily autonomy.
The Society was responding to a consultation on changes to the teaching of RSE and PSHE as the subjects become compulsory in England. It criticised the fact the proposals would continue to allow schools to teach RSE "in accordance with the tenets of their faith" and parents to remove their children from RSE teaching.
"Religious influence must not allow children's education to be distorted or diminished," it said.
The NSS is encouraging its supporters to respond to the consultation, which closes on Monday 12 February at 11.45pm.
Alastair Lichten, the NSS's education and schools officer, said: "Getting Relationships and Sex Education on a statutory footing, so every child has access to age appropriate provision, was a major success.
"After achieving this with such broad support, it would be a tragedy if the Government were to let some pupils down by making concessions at the behest of regressive faith groups. Faith schools must not use their 'ethos' to misinform or avoid their equality duties.
"Guidance must make clear that age-appropriate education about sex and relationships is the right of every child, irrespective of the school they attend or the religious beliefs of their parents".
Mr Lichten called on supporters to take a "last chance" to respond to the consultation.
The NSS identified three areas of RSE that have "often been neglected" due to the lack of a statutory requirement: contraception, non-heteronormative relationships and consent (including bodily autonomy).
"In all areas there is a big gap between expectation and reality," the NSS wrote. It cited research by the Terrence Higgins Trust in 2016, which found that 97% of young people thought RSE should be LGBT+ inclusive but 95% had not learned about LGBT+ sex and relationships and 97% had not discussed gender identity in RSE. Three-quarters of young people had not had RSE that covered consent.
The NSS's response said regulations on how schools teach RSE should not include "an option simply not to teach that subject". It highlighted concerns about a recent meeting between education minister Lord Agnew and Charedi 'community representatives', where a rabbi reportedly told the minister there would be "no compromise" on "alternative lifestyles and recently legitimised forms of marriage".
The NSS warned that the parental opt-out would "mean many children are denied the protection from harm that balanced and accurate SRE offers". It pointed out that the case of AR & LR v Switzerland (2018) showed that compulsory sex education does not breach parents' article eight or nine rights under the European Convention – those protecting the right to a private family life and freedom of belief.
The response also referred to the long history of faith schools using sex education to advance their religious agenda, particularly harming LGBT+ pupils. The 2017 School Report by the charity Stonewall showed the differences between many faith and community schools. One 17-year-old told researchers: "We were openly told that same-sex relationships are too inappropriate to be discussed in class. A pupil asking about same-sex adoption was asked to leave the class so as not to offend the sensitivities of other students."
The NSS said plans to teach young people about online safety should apply to all schools, including those with religious objections to students using the internet.
The NSS also highlighted the need for schools to actively counter the regular promulgation of falsehoods and anti-sex education propaganda in religious communities.
One example of a response to the consultation, circulated by an Islamic group, said children "from the age of four" would be "exposed to indecent resources". A guide by a Christian group warned of the "active promotion of an LGBT agenda" and the problems of treating "all lifestyles as equally valid", calling for Christian beliefs to be promoted through all aspects of RSE and PSHE. A group of Jewish schools – which felt the need to censor the word "sex" throughout its guidelines – said "schools must be able to use their faith teachings and practices as the lens to teach PSHE" and RSE.
Mr Lichten said: "A strand of fearmongering runs through all these guides, along with a lack of concern for young people's rights and the arrogant assumption that faith schools should be free to advance dogma, without any concern for equality or accuracy."
On Tuesday several MPs spoke up in favour of robust statutory PSHE during a debate in the House of Commons. Teresa Pearce of Labour said "all children should be treated equally and have equal access to information". Her colleague Sarah Champion raised statistics which suggest one in 20 children will experience sexual abuse. The Green party's Caroline Lucas said "all children, regardless of faith or background, have the right to know the facts".
In response schools minister Nick Gibb said the Department for Education was "engaging with subject experts, voluntary organisations and other interested parties". The examples he listed included PSHE specialists, charities focused on LGBT+ issues, faith groups and "secular groups".
The call for evidence on PSHE and RSE is open until 12 February 2018. You can share your view using the DfE's online survey.
Priest’s certificate may be used for admissions, says regulator
Posted: Thu, 8 Feb 2018 15:43
Catholic schools may accept a certificate signed by a priest as a reason to give pupils priority in admissions, the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) has ruled.
Schools will be allowed to use the Certificate of Catholic Practice, which was introduced in 2016, as proof that pupils come from a "practising Catholic family".
The National Secular Society has described the implications of the decision as "outrageous".
Alastair Lichten, the NSS's education and faith schools campaigner, said: "It's outrageous to allow priests to act as gatekeepers to publicly-funded schools and empower them to determine whether pupils are eligible for a school place arbitrarily.
"No discrimination against pupils on the basis of their religious background should be considered fair. All schools funded by the taxpayer should be open and accessible to all."
The certificate was brought in to replace a range of other criteria which were used to allow Catholic families to jump the admissions queue. These included forms and questioning designed to prove regular attendance at mass.
That year the OSA ruled that the certificate was "unfair and arbitrary". It upheld complaints about unclear admissions rules at four Catholic schools in Surrey and a Catholic college in west London. It said the certificate breached rules that parents must be able to "easily understand how any faith-based criteria will be reasonably satisfied".
But it has now reversed its decision and said schools that demand the certificate will be considered to be "striving" to meet the requirements of the school admissions code. In 2014 the Government said criteria for admissions in oversubscribed schools "must be reasonable, clear, objective, procedurally fair, and comply with all relevant legislation, including equalities legislation".
The Catholic Education Service (CES) said it was "extremely pleased" with the OSA's decision, calling the certificate "a great help to parents". Last year it threatened to take the Government to court over the OSA's rejection of the certificate before backing down. It also said schools have continued to use the document since the regulator's original decision.
The new ruling comes as the Government considers raising the 50% cap on faith-based admissions to faith schools and introducing a new wave of Catholic schools. The NSS is lobbying against the move and campaigning for a moratorium on the opening of new faith schools, followed by the phasing out of state-funded faith-based education.
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)
