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
Court ruling: local authorities are under no obligation to subsidise transport to faith schools
Posted: Fri, 22 May 2015 15:22
A judge has ruled that the state is not obliged to subsidise transportation to and from faith schools, despite ruling in favour of a Catholic school in a case over subsidised school transport.
The Bishop Vaughan School has won only two out of six grounds of its case against Swansea Council over the Council's policy of phasing-out funding for subsidised transport to faith schools. Although the judgement will require Swansea's policy to be revised, the judge ruled that the state is not obliged to be "[subsidising] and/or paying the whole cost for transportation between home and school." The judgment is therefore unlikely to result in forcing any significant reversal to the cuts made in England.
However, on the specifics of this case, the judge upheld the complaint against Swansea Council, ruling that the policy indirectly discriminated against black and minority ethnic (BME) children. The judgement concluded that the amended policy indirectly discriminated on grounds of race by maintaining free transport to 12 Welsh language schools where the intake is overwhelmingly white, whilst withholding it from prospective pupils of the county's six faith schools where pupils are far more likely to be from BME backgrounds than the average Swansea child.
Swansea Council discontinued transport funding for pupils attending faith schools farther away than mainstream schools, but continued to fund transport for students attending Welsh-language schools. Whilst assistance to faith schools is made on a discretionary basis, the Council believed itself to be under a statutory duty to provide subsidy for parents who choose to their children to Welsh medium schools; the judge thought they had put too much emphasis on this.
The Council stressed that pupils would have still been able to access a "good local school" and that the change was being implemented over six years, so that current students who benefit from the subsidy are not impacted.
However, the Bursar of Bishop Vaughan School described the policy as "brutal" and the school governors, along with a pupil from the school and the Diocese of Menevia, claimed the policy was unlawful. Though they have won their case on other grounds, the judge ruled that the state is under no obligation to subsidise costs to faith schools.
National Secular Society executive director Keith Porteous Wood commented:
"We are relieved that, crucially, the court ruled that the policy did not discriminate on grounds of religion or belief and that Councils' obligations do not extend to subsidising or paying the whole cost for transportation between home and school. We applaud that and doubt therefore that the judgement will lead to local authorities in England being required to reverse their cuts to subsidies in faith school transport.
"There were problems, however in stopping the subsidy for faith schools while retaining it for Welsh medium schools; subsidies may have to be for none or both.
"We do not see this as an issue of discrimination against the religious. The cuts eliminate a privilege under which the religious have had subsidised transport denied to others."
The full court ruling can be read here: https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/diocese-of-menevia-v-city-of-swansea-(approved)-20.pdf
LibDem leadership contender calls for secular state
Posted: Wed, 20 May 2015 17:00
Tim Farron, one of two candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, has called for the Church of England to be disestablished and has also expressed his opposition to faith schools.
"If we were starting from scratch, I would not have church schools, but we are where we are," Mr Farron told PinkNews.
Commenting on the inevitable contradictions that come from having religious groups running schools, Mr Farron said: "if we're accepting that faith schools exist, we're accepting their ability to teach in accordance with that ethos up to a point."
When pressed on the question of compulsory sex and relationship in all state-funded schools – including church schools, Mr Farron said: "I support age-appropriate inclusive sex education, that is informed – but if we're going to have faith schools, they should be able to practise their ethos."
Nonetheless, in principle, Mr Farron opposes faith-based schools. Emphasising his support for age-appropriate sex education, even in faith schools, he said "these are state-funded schools."
When asked what he would say to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, Mr Farron replied: "The fundamental thing… and I certainly said [this] to the last Archbishop of Canterbury – is the Church of England should be disestablished."
Mr Farron, a Christian, added, "I think the Church of England is compromised by being part of the furniture of the state.
"I think it damages Christianity to have an established church, and it certainly it's also illiberal to have a state church anyway."
He went on to say, "although I'm a Christian myself, I do not believe I have any right to impose my faith on anybody else."
National Secular Society campaigns manager Stephen Evans commented: "These are welcome comments. It very encouraging to see politicians articulating secular views that most of the public are already extremely sympathetic towards.
"It is also worth repeating that it is entirely reasonable to be a secularist and a Christian- as Mr Farron demonstrates. Secularism is simply about fairness: secularism protects religious freedom and freedom from religion."
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)
