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
Faith school transport subsidies set to be axed by Lancashire Council
Posted: Wed, 23 Mar 2016 10:13
Lancashire County Council has come under fire from the Church of England over plans to remove transport subsidies for children attending faith schools. The Council currently spends £1.1m on transporting pupils to faith-based schools, despite having no legal duty to do so.
The Council has said it will cut discretionary financial assistance to parents who send their children to a faith school which is not the nearest school to the family home.
The council, which needs to make savings of £262m over the next five years, says rising costs and increasing demand for key public services means it has "no choice" but to cut the funding.
However, Reverend Alex Frost, who has a child at one of the schools affected, called the proposal an "attack on faith education".
"Family choices could be affected because of financial constraints forcing children to attend schools that may not have the same Christian ethos", he said.
National Secular Society campaigns manager Stephen Evans commented: "If parents decide against a local school and choose to send their children to a more distant religious school because they adhere to a particular faith then they should fund the cost themselves. Taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidise transport on religious grounds when closer schools exist.
"Councils up and down the country are being forced to make tough decisions and it's only right that vital services are protected rather than discriminatory and unfair subsidies to parents insisting on a faith-based education for their child."
Councillor Matthew Tomlinson said: "We've continued to provide this subsidy for as long as we could, even though this provision hasn't been available for children attending non-faith schools. The proposed change will mean all schools are treated equally."
He added that Lancashire was one of the last local authorities in the UK to cut the fund, "which councils are not legally required to provide."
The Council will continue to provide free home to school transport for pupils from low income backgrounds to attend the nearest school preferred on grounds of religion or belief.
When Kirklees Council consulted on ending free travel to faith schools 72% of 926 respondents supported the measure.
Parents in Lancashire can take part in the consultation here.
Four Newcastle schools facing Church of England takeover
Posted: Wed, 9 Mar 2016 12:16
Four non-religious schools are to be merged with a CofE primary under a single academy trust controlled by the Church of England, in a move described as a "takeover".
The local press report that the proposals have attracted criticism from the local MP, parents and councillors, and prompted concern from Newcastle City Council.
Nick Brown MP said he had "concerns" about the plans which would see "Church of England appointees as a majority of the academy trust's members, despite only one of the five schools being a Church of England school." The Newcastle East MP has said he will campaign against the proposals.
One local councillor said the change was undemocratic and against the wishes of parents who have their children at the non-religious schools.
"The Church are saying this is not a takeover by them but then if it isn't that, what is it?"
Councillor Dave Wood also raised concerns about the consultation process and said that "Councillors opposed to the move were not consulted at all directly and parents have said they do not want the schools to be taken over."
Under the plans Central Walker Church of England School would join West Walker Primary School, Walkergate Primary School, Tyneview Primary and Benfield School in one trust dominated by representatives of the Church of England.
The Newcastle Diocesan Education Board has claimed that the community schools involved will have their individual ethos protected under the multi-academy trust – a guarantee sought by the National Secular Society from the Department for Education when the NSS first raised the alarm about religious groups using academisation to takeover non-religious schools.
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager of the National Secular Society, said, "This is exactly what we warned would happen. The Department for Education reassured us that individual schools would be protected if taken over by a religious multi-academy trust, but this board will have three of five seats filled by representatives of the Church of England. How can non-religious schools realistically be protected from an encroaching religious ethos if the most senior people in the trust are all advancing the interests of the Church?
"It is hard enough for parents to secure a neutral, non-religious education for their children without the Church taking over whole academy trusts. It's intolerable that the Church should be allowed to further its own interests by gaining greater influence over children's education and at the public's expense."
Mr Evans said the safeguards in place to protect non-faith schools joining faith-based Multi Academy Chains were "wholly inadequate" and warned that there was nothing to stop non-religious schools entering into such chains from applying for a religious designation provided they gained the approval of the Secretary of State.
Newcastle City Council said that it had "concerns about the impact that these changes could have across the family of schools within the city and on the ability of the local authority to carry out its statutory duties, such as responding to and meeting future and changing needs of the local population."
A spokesperson for the council said that it wanted "assurance" that if the trust were established it would "follow local arrangements regarding a fair approach to school admissions."
The takeover is coming shortly after the Archbishop of Canterbury boasted of the Church's continued influence over the education of more one million children through state-funded schools.
A 2015 report released by the Church of England and discussed at the recent General Synod said that the Church had an "urgent need" to focus evangelism on children, young people and their parents in light of a catastrophic collapse in adult church attendance.
The National Secular Society is regularly contacted by parents, teachers and governors concerned about a push by religious groups to assert a much more aggressive religious ethos in faith schools. One parent governor told the NSS recently that he felt very "uncomfortable" about an "aggressive new push to convert children".
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)
