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
Ofsted repeatedly fails dozens of independent faith schools
Posted: Wed, 20 Sep 2017 16:06
Dozens of small independent faith schools have repeatedly failed to meet Ofsted standards in the last three years, according to analysis of the inspectorate's data by Schools Week.
Since 2014-15, 190 non-associated independent schools – around 20% of the private schools which are not attached to an umbrella organisation in England – have failed to meet the standards.
Almost half of those have failed more than once: 30% have failed twice; 13% failed three times; six failed four times; and three failed five or more times.
Half of the schools which have repeatedly failed are faith schools, and almost two-thirds of those faith schools are still not meeting the standards. Muslim schools made up 50% of failed faith schools, Christian schools 28% and Jewish schools 22%.
The Rabia Girls' and Boys' School, an independent Islamic school in Luton, was the worst offender, failing seven times. Ofsted has criticised the school for, among other things: failing to teach British values adequately; limiting girls to "knitting and sewing" in design and technology; and separating male and female staff during training sessions. In 2016 Sir Michael Wilshaw, then the chief inspector of schools, wrote to the education secretary to express his concerns about the school.
Several of the other schools have also been criticised for failing to provide a secular education. Two Jewish schools in north London, the Beis Aharon School and the Getters Talmud Torah School, have each failed five inspections; Ofsted has accused both of them of having an insufficiently broad curriculum. Ayasofia primary school in east London fell below the standards four times, partly because its secular curriculum was "narrow and lacked depth". The school was thrown off the independent schools' register in September last year.
The Cornerstone School, a Christian school in Surrey, closed after just one inspection in 2015, which found pupils were "not open to the views" of others. Two other schools have also been closed. The Department for Education issued six more with deregistration notices, but these were appealed or ignored after the school improved.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns director, said the revelations "illustrated the detrimental effect which the proliferation of private faith schooling is having on children's rights".
"Shutting a school causes great disruption and should always be a last resort. But the Department for Education and Ofsted must ensure they hold independent faith schools to account. These schools must not be given a blank cheque to avoid their responsibilities.
"Faith must not be an excuse for failing to raise children for successful lives in 21st-century Britain."
Independent faith schools have been at the centre of several controversies in recent years. In 2016 Sir Michael Wilshaw, then the chief inspector of schools, wrote to the education secretary to express concern about the failure of some independent Islamic schools, including the Rabia Girls and Boys, to uphold British values. And earlier this year Ofsted downgraded nine faith schools which taught the fundamentalist Accelerated Christian Education curriculum.
In 2014 the National Secular Society responded to an Ofsted consultation on inspecting non-associated independent schools. The society raised concerns that the proliferation of these schools could prove "detrimental to future community cohesion" and increase the potential for young people's radicalisation. It also called for "more robust inspections" on whether schools were enabling young people to "acquire the knowledge, values and skills to develop independence and confidence, participate in society and choose their path in life".
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More than half of Brits now non-religious, study finds
Posted: Mon, 4 Sep 2017 17:00
The National Secular Society has called for "a serious debate about religion's place in our society" after a study found the proportion of non-religious Britons had reached record levels.
New data from the latest British Social Attitudes survey, carried out last year by the National Centre of Social Research (NatCen), suggested 53% of British people now have 'no religion'. The figure, which confirmed an initial NSS analysis of the BSA's report, has risen from 48% since 2015 and 31% since 1983.
In a random, representative sample, almost 3,000 people were asked: 'Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?' If respondents said yes, they were asked which one, without being given a list of religions.
Their answers were fairly consistent with other surveys which have asked questions in a similar fashion. And the recent Scottish Social Attitudes survey found that an even higher proportion of Scots (58%) had no religion.
The BSA survey suggests affiliation to the Church of England is in particular decline. Just 15% of respondents called themselves Anglican – half the proportion who said the same thing in 2000.
The proportion of people who call themselves Catholic has remained relatively stable, at around one in 10, over the last 30 years. Around 6% of people say they belong to non-Christian religions.
Religiosity declined in every age group between 2015 and 2016, but particularly among the young: 71% of people aged 18-24 said they had no religion. That figure had risen 9% in one year. NSS president Terry Sanderson said this was not surprising: "The report says young people are 'losing their religion', but it is more likely that they never had any religion to lose."
Roger Harding, head of public attitudes at NatCen, said the differences by age were "stark". "With so many younger people not having a religion, it's hard to see this change abating any time soon," he added.
Just 3% of those aged 18-24 described themselves as Anglican, compared to 40% of those aged 75 and over. Stephen Evans, the NSS's campaigns director, said this provided a significant boost to the campaign against faith schools.
"One common – albeit flawed – argument from the pro-faith school lobby is that they meet parental demand. But these figures make clear that Anglican schools will not be an attractive proposition for the majority of tomorrow's parents."
In July the BSA report also suggested that non-religious people were more socially liberal than believers on a wide range of issues. Almost nine in ten people with no religion in 2016 said pre-marital sex, for example, was "not wrong at all". This was compared to 73% of Anglicans, 76% of Catholics, 62% of other Christians and 33% of non-Christian religious people.
And although religious people remain more conservative than the non-religious, their attitudes towards premarital sex, same-sex relationships and abortion are becoming more liberal. In some instances, the change is rapid. This suggests the influence of religious ideas on social attitudes is waning.
The findings add weight to the arguments made in the NSS's recent report, Rethinking religion and belief in public life: a manifesto for change. Mr Evans said they should prompt an "urgent rethink about religion's public role and the relationship between church and state".
"Again we have evidence that Britain is becoming increasingly irreligious and religiously diverse. The time has come to call time on the many vestiges of religious privilege – not least the seats given as of right to 26 Anglican clergy in the legislature, and religious groups' considerable influence over our publicly funded schools.
"Rather than cleaving to its mediaeval past, Britain's future surely lies in becoming a modern secular state where every citizen can be treated fairly and valued equally, irrespective of their religious outlook."
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)
