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.
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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 of England 'misselling school admissions policies'
Posted: Thu, 23 Nov 2017 16:52
The Church of England is misleading the public over the extent of religious discrimination in its schools' admissions policies, according to a report published this week.
The Accord Coalition found that Church bodies gave schools autonomy to determine how they select pupils, meaning they were not guided towards religious inclusivity. Only one in eight of the 40 dioceses it studied advise their schools not to engage in faith-based selection. In contrast one in four advise them to reserve some places on faith grounds.
The research, which was carried out on behalf of the Fair Admissions Campaign, found that many schools continue to select pupils by faith. Even in the five notionally inclusive dioceses, half of the Church's schools retained discriminatory policies.
The findings appear to contradict the Church's public statements. Until last month, the C of E's website said its schools were "not faith schools for Christians, but Christian schools for all and, as such, are committed to serving the needs of the local community". And in 2013 the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said there was a "steady move away from faith-based entry tests" in Church schools.
Accord said such claims were "at best inaccurate and therefore misleading".
"By deflecting attention away from schools practising religious discrimination, such comments present a false image and encourage complacency," it added.
Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, Accord's chair, said the Church should "practice what it preaches".
He added that most people in Britain did not want state funded schools to select or divide pupils on religious grounds. Last year a Populus poll found that 72% of the public agreed that 'state funded schools, including state funded faith schools, should not be allowed to select or discriminate against prospective pupils on religious grounds in their admissions policy'.
The Church runs around 4,500 primary schools – roughly a quarter of the total – and 200 secondary schools. Around one million pupils in England and Wales attend these schools, which are exempt from the provisions of the Equality Act 2010. The Act prevents discrimination on religious grounds.
Alastair Lichten, NSS education and schools campaigner, said the Church of England's claims of inclusivity should not be taken at face value.
"The Church likes to claim its schools are inclusive when in fact, many still operate religiously selective admissions policies. Where 'Church schools' don't discriminate in admissions, they are often seen as an opportunity to proselytise to pupils and parents that otherwise wouldn't go anywhere near a church. This isn't inclusive education, its evangelism – and all paid for from the public purse."
The Church of England's Chief Education Officer, Rev Nigel Genders, disputed the findings and backed the decision of schools which discriminated on faith grounds.
"Those schools that give some priority to Christian children do so in areas where competition for places is acute and often providing places purely on distance from the school would mean that only the wealthiest, who can afford to move house nearby, can access the best schools," he said.
Exclusive: Most state Jewish schools enforce religious dress
Posted: Tue, 21 Nov 2017 15:43
Nearly 60% of state-funded Jewish schools in England compel pupils to wear religious clothing as part of the school uniform, National Secular Society research has revealed.
Out of 49 state-funded Jewish schools, 29 were found to list specifically Jewish items of clothing as part of the compulsory school uniform on their website, mostly for boys. This includes the kippah (skullcap) and tzitzit (ritual tassels).
"We are proud to be a Jewish school. Boys are expected to wear a Kippah and Tzitzit," says Rimon Jewish Primary School, a free school in Barnet, on its online uniform policy.
Hertsmere Jewish Primary School's Parent Handbook specifies that "boys are required to wear a kippa and tszizit at all times," even from nursery level.
Some schools threaten punishment for boys who do not wear the kippah. Yavneh College, an Academy in Hertfordshire, instructs: "Boys must wear a kipa at all times during the school day, except when playing sport. If a boy does not have a kipa, he is educated away from his peers and we try to contact his parents to ask them bring in a kipa for him. Alternatively, he can purchase a kipa for £2 from the school office."
There are also schools that expect the kippah to be worn even outside school grounds. Hasmonean High School's uniform policy states: "Boys are reminded that they must travel to and from school in full school uniform including a tie, blazer and Kippa."
Some schools also issue requirements for girls. Lubavitch House School Senior Girls in Hackney states: "At all times, both in private and in public, in uniform and especially when not in uniform, pupils are expected to dress in a modest way, befitting a true Jewish girl and as required by Shulchan Aruch (Jewish Code of Law). Specific dress guidelines will be issued to your daughter before acceptance into the school, which will be explained and each pupil will be expected to abide by them at all times."
There are also schools that impose Jewish dress and modesty standards on external visitors. Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Primary School in Salford's Dress Code for visitors states: "Jewish male visitors must wear a head covering. All female visitors must wear skirts of at least knee length, not trousers, and ensure that arms are covered until the elbow. Low necklines may not be worn and midriffs should not be visible. These guidelines are in accordance with Halachah and the ethos of the School."
Similarly, Avigdor Hirsch Torah Temimah Primary School in Brent has a visitors' guide on its website that says: "We request that female visitors, both Jewish and non-Jewish, dress smartly and modestly with high necklines, at least mid-length sleeves, and legs covered to below the knee; skirts or dresses are preferable to trousers."
Beis Yaakov Primary School in Barnet specified similar standards of modesty in its visitors' guide, which has since been removed from its website following an exposé by the NSS on its policies, including the teaching of creationism.
At only four state Jewish schools is it clear that Jewish items of dress are not compulsory for any student at any part of the school day. Only one school, JCoSS in Barnet, acknowledges the right for pupils to have a personal choice in the matter. In its FAQ section it states: "A kippah is included as a part of the school uniform, but the decision whether or not to wear it will be a personal one for both girls and boys."
The research follows a previous study by the NSS on compulsory hijab and other Islamic dress at English Muslim schools. It was found that 10 state-funded Muslim schools make the hijab compulsory.
Since that research Ofsted has announced its intention to crack down on possible resulting breaches of the Equality Act.
All of the NSS's findings have been shared with the Department for Education, Ofsted and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Megan Manson, campaigns officer at the NSS, said: "Forcing children to wear religious clothing is forcing them to take the identity of a particular religion, regardless of what the child may personally believe. It means that children lose their fundamental right to freedom of belief.
"School uniforms are usually intended to generate a sense of unity and equality among all pupils. But these uniform policies play a different role – to serve as a means of enforcing religious ideology, and to set boys apart from girls. And while girls may not be forced to wear a kippah, some Jewish schools have issued 'modesty codes' that are clearly sexist. It is important to recognise the background and context of what is euphemistically termed 'modesty'. At its heart, it is about controlling women.
"Incorporating religious items into compulsory school uniform policy not only makes religion inescapable at all times for the pupil; it also blurs the line between learning and acts of worship. Without a clear demarcation between what is education, and what is religious instruction, pupils are far more susceptible to indoctrination into a worldview governed by religious codes, rather than one formed through objective, critical thinking.
"Schools should be places where pupils can explore their beliefs for themselves. But as long as religious dress codes are enforced, the schools take this opportunity away."
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More information
Protect relationships and sex education
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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)
