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
‘Catholic certificate’ breaches admissions rules, says Schools Adjudicator
Posted: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 12:12
The Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) has upheld several complaints against a "Certificate of Catholic Practice" (CCP) required for school admissions.
Schools Week reported that two councils and at least one parent lodged objections with the OSA over the new "Certificate of Catholic Practice" used to evaluate a pupil's religious faith for the purpose of school admissions.
The Catholic Education Service backed the certificates which were considered "The only measure of an applicant's practice", rather than other measures such as mass attendance.
But the Office of the School Adjudicator upheld a series of complaints, criticising the certificates and the lack of clarity about what was needed to obtain one.
Schools Adjudicator Dr Bryan Slater ruled: "It is the duty of the admission authority to construct its admission arrangements and in doing so to comply with the law and the Code. It has failed to do so."
"The School Admissions Code requires the admission authority to revise its admission arrangements within two months of the date of the determination."
The adjudicator concluded that St Paul's Catholic College in Surrey was "relieved of the duty to have regard" to diocesan guidance on admissions because the diocese had failed "to be compliant with statutory provisions within the [Admissions] Code."
Dr Slater said that the admissions policies and the requirement for a Certificate of Catholic Practice (CCP) did not meet the requirement to be "reasonable, clear, objective, procedurally fair, and comply with all relevant legislation".
"Instead of there being clear criteria for being given priority on the grounds of religious practice, the school's admission arrangements give priority to those in possession of a CCP, the issue of which is in the gift of an applicant's parish priest."
The Adjudicator ruled that the requirements for securing a Certificate of Catholic Practice were opaque to parents: "Even those parents who know, because they are 'practising Catholics' 'that Canon Law requires that they attend Mass on a weekly basis from at least 7 years of age' (to use the diocese's words) and who attend Mass in accordance with those requirements cannot be certain that they will be 'granted' (the term used in a letter to me from the diocese) a CCP."
NSS campaigns officer Alastair Lichten said: "Faith schools often devise opaque and complex admissions policies. But schools funded by the taxpayer should be open and accessible to all."
Church academy chain to close only secular school
Posted: Tue, 15 Nov 2016 10:40
A Church of England multi-academy trust is set to close the only non-faith school under its control.
The Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust (DEMAT) has 22 schools in Norfolk, including a single community school, the Ten Mile Bank Riverside Academy.
The trust has proposed closing the Academy, meaning pupils from the community school will have to move to a Church of England VC school which is 2 miles away and would involve a walk along the A10.
The nearest non-religious community school is 6 miles away and parents are said to be "up in arms" about the planned closure.
Campaigners trying to save the school told the local paper that "Many people believe that Ten Mile Bank is being threatened with closure because it is a non-faith school – it's the only school in DEMAT's history which is not a faith school."
Ryan Coogan, who chairs a group trying to save the academy, said that "In the last Ofsted inspection this was found to be a 'good' school, children are being turned away from the school as their parents have been told it's over-populated, and as far as we know there are no financial issues."
Stephen Evans, campaigns director of the National Secular Society, said of the plans: "People living in rural areas already face some of the biggest difficulties in finding a secular education for their children.
"No local community wants to lose its school, but where schools need to be consolidated or small schools closed preserving the provision of secular schools should be the priority. Secular schools are appropriate for all pupils, irrespective of their faith or non-faith backgrounds, and the provision of these inclusive schools should be protected.
"Where this process is led by religiously motivated academy trusts rather than local communities, there is a real democratic deficit – with local people left out of the decision making. This episode shows that religious academy trusts can be expected to have very little interest in protecting the ethos of non-religious schools which fall under religious control."
A consultation is now being held on the proposals.
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)
