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 welcomes ruling: Islamic school's gender segregation unlawful
Posted: Fri, 13 Oct 2017 12:27
The National Secular Society has welcomed a landmark ruling in the Court of Appeal that an Islamic school's policy of segregating boys from girls amounted to unlawful sex discrimination.
Al-Hijrah School, a state-funded Islamic school in Birmingham, admits pupils of both sexes. But from year five boys and girls are completely segregated for religious reasons for all lessons, break and lunchtimes, school trips and school clubs.
NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans said: "This is excellent news for young British girls from Muslim backgrounds. The court has struck an important blow for gender equality.
"The policy of segregation in this school was not benign. It was based on the notion of female inferiority. It was shocking, for example, that books in the library suggested husbands could beat and expect obedience from their wives.
"Our society is often too slow to condemn discrimination when it comes cloaked in religion, particularly Islam. But gender apartheid is an assault on women's rights and dignity. We hope this sets a precedent and others will stand up to the fundamentalist mindset, rather than tolerating harmful and regressive practices under the cloak of religious or cultural sensitivity."
Three judges overturned last year's finding by the High Court that Ofsted inspectors were wrong to penalise the school, on the basis of an "erroneous" view that segregation amounted to unlawful discrimination.
The judges unanimously allowed a challenge by Ofsted's chief inspector Amanda Spielman against the High Court's decision. Ofsted's lawyers argued the segregation left girls "unprepared for life in modern Britain".
The ruling means Ofsted will be able to penalise Islamic and other faith schools if they continue to practice gender segregation in future. There are approximately 20 faith schools that teach boys and girls separately.
Speaking after the ruling, Ms Spielman said it would set a precedent for future inspections.
"I am delighted that we have won this appeal," she said. "Ofsted's job is to make sure that all schools properly prepare children for life in modern Britain. Educational institutions should never treat pupils less favourably because of their sex, or for any other reason.
"The school is teaching boys and girls entirely separately, making them walk down separate corridors, and keeping them apart at all times.
"This is discrimination and is wrong. It places these boys and girls at a disadvantage for life beyond the classroom and the workplace, and fails to prepare them for life in modern Britain."
She added: "This case involves issues of real public interest, and has significant implications for gender equality, Ofsted, government, and the wider education sector. We will be considering the ruling carefully to understand how this will affect future inspections."
Last year Ofsted inspectors visited the school and raised concerns about many leadership failings, including "too heavy involvement" by governors in the day-to-day running of the school, and concerns over gender segregation. They said the school had an unchallenged culture of discrimination against girls and LGBT+ people.
They also found religious books promoting rape, violence against women and misogynistic attitudes in the school library. Among them were books stating that a husband can beat his wife and insist on having sex with her. Some girls anonymously complained that gender segregation was hindering their ability to integrate into wider society.
In November a judge ruled that Ofsted had been wrong to punish the school for segregating its pupils, on the grounds that the children were "separated equally".
The National Secular Society campaigned against this ruling, writing to Ofsted urge them to appeal. The NSS also supported interventions by two women's groups, Southall Black Sisters and Inspire, which highlighted the role that Islamist ideology was playing at the schools.
Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters called the ruling "a vital step forward in our effort to persuade the courts and state bodies to take account of the reality of the misogyny and gender stereotyping that is promoted in our schools and universities in the name of religious and cultural freedom."
Sara Khan of Inspire said: "I hope this serves as a reminder that equality and the rights of women and girls especially from minority communities must not be sacrificed in the name of culture or religion."
Parents protest plan to merge non-religious school into Christian one
Posted: Wed, 11 Oct 2017 17:18
Parents and children have taken to the streets to protest plans to merge Trafalgar College, a school without a religious ethos, into the Christian Great Yarmouth Charter Academy.
Trafalgar College was opened last year to meet parental demand for school places in Great Yarmouth at a religiously neutral school with a sixth form. However, the proposed merger would see pupils at Trafalgar College relocate to the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, which will retain its Christian character after the merger.
This effectively means that a non-religious school will be closed in order to expand a religious school.
Carrying banners and placards saying 'Say no to forced religious designations' and 'Our children deserve a choice & a voice,' the parents and children from Trafalgar College marched in protest on October 7th.
Louise Alderman, who chairs the Parents, Teachers and Friends Association (PTFA) at Trafalgar, was among the parents who raised concerns with the NSS. She told the Eastern Daily Press: "We're really pleased with how the march went and I think people understand the issues a lot better now."
The National Secular Society is supporting families at Trafalgar College who oppose the merger, and has written to the Inspiration Trust, the multi-academy trust that runs the two schools, to express its opposition.
The NSS is particularly concerned that Inspiration Trust is not fully representing the issues in its consultation page and FAQ document for the planned merger, which therefore biases the consultation. The consultation page does not appear to address the religious issues surrounding the proposals at all, while the FAQ document states that "Charter is not a faith school." The NSS believes this statement is misleading, as Charter Academy has a clear Christian ethos and therefore fits the general definition of 'faith school.'
The FAQ document also states that "there are more than 100 schools in Norfolk with a religious designation, without causing parents any concern." The NSS also believes the inaccuracy of this statement to be self-evident in the fact that the parents have clearly voiced their worries regarding the religious character of the Charter School. The NSS has also pointed out some of the issues surrounding religiously designated schools, including proselytization and subtle forms of bias.
Representatives of Inspiration Trust continued to make these potentially misleading claims at a consultation meeting with Trafalgar College parents on 28th September.
Adrian Ball, COO of Inspiration Trust, said, "It is not a faith school. The holy designation means that the underlying principles of the school are ones that kindness, politeness, understanding as per Christian faith that are in reality intermerged with any religious denomination."
In response to this, Stephen Evans, Campaigns Director at the NSS, said, "We are sure that all schools in Inspiration Trust aspire to 'kindness, warmth and fairness'. Conflating this with a formal religious designation – which is neither necessary for, nor always conducive to such aspirations – is misleading. I'm sure that Inspiration Trust would concede that a religious ethos is not necessary to for a school to teach the values necessary to develop kindness and understanding in pupils. It is misleading and divisive to frame such values as uniquely Christian.
"School reorganisations are always a matter on which there are strong opinions by all those involved, who would like the best outcome for pupils. The insistence on a religious ethos only makes these situations more difficult and divisive.
"It's really disappointing that yet again we see where there are school closures and merges, religious schools are expanded at the expense of community schools. At a time when religious adherence is rapidly diminishing its absurd to be expanding faith-based schooling. We urge the Inspiration Trust to drop the religious designation and ensure that local pupils have continued access to a secular and inclusive schooling."
UPDATE: In late October Inspiration Trust published its response to the consultation. It announced it had decided to continue with the proposal to apply a Christian religious designation to the merged academy.
The Trust said it had "carefully considered the responses to the consultation," including from the NSS.
"We feel that the designation reflects the views of the majority of the population, while continuing a light-touch practical approach ensures that those with other beliefs are not excluded," it said. It cited results from the 2011 census in defence of its case.
The Trust also said that "on a practical level, we consider that in terms of religion there is very little difference in the day to day operation of the two schools".
The NSS said it was "disappointed" by the decision. A spokesperson described the justification behind it as "very thin and based on selective evidence".
Image © Paul Smith / Eastern Daily Press
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)
