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
Durham Free School criticised for emphasis on religion when recruiting staff – teachers branded “crap” by MP
Posted: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:06
Durham Free School, ranked as "inadequate" by Ofsted on all inspection criteria, has been strongly criticised for its emphasis on the religious credentials of staff and the poor quality of teachers.
The school's Ofsted report found that "Governors place too much emphasis on religious credentials when they are recruiting key staff and not enough on seeking candidates with excellent leadership and teaching skills."
In a debate in the House of Commons held on Tuesday 27 January 2015, Durham MP Pat Glass (pictured right) said that according to one local head teacher, the Durham Free School "had become a haven for every crap teacher in the north-east."
She added that: "As a former senior education officer in the North East, I was aware that there were very high levels of teachers working at the Durham Free School that I knew had already been through competency procedures with other local authorities."
After the Ofsted report was published on 19 January 2015, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced that the school was to be closed. Several students have already moved to other schools.
The school still has a job advert posted online for a permanent head teacher. Despite the school's prospectus stating that "teachers will be recruited according to excellence, not their faith," the job description says that "the ability to promote the values, culture and Christian ethos of the School" is "essential" to the job.
The school prospectus states that the values of the school are "underpinned by a traditional Christian ethos" and that a Christian ethos "works." The prospectus says that schools "underpinned by Christian values are almost always among the best performers for exams results and Ofsted report." In this case, however, Ofsted took the unusual step of ranking the school "inadequate" in every single inspection criteria, and the school has been harshly criticised by local MPs, local head teachers and the Department for Education.
NSS campaigns manager, Stephen Evans, said: "This school demonstrates that there's nothing magical about a 'faith ethos'. The perception that faith schools get better results has more to do their ability to discriminate and select pupils on the basis of faith rather than any 'Christian values' they espouse. In the case of Durham, it's extremely concerning that the religious beliefs of applicants was considered more important than their ability to teach. Pupils have obviously been let down badly by this school."
Like several other faith-ethos free schools, Durham Free School was undersubscribed, and MPs criticised the decision to open the school in the first place. Pat Glass MP said that "you cannot spit in Durham city without hitting an outstanding school" and that as there were surplus places in Durham before the school opened, she "could not understand the reasoning behind the setting up of another school."
The Ofsted inspection also found that "some students hold discriminatory views of other people who have different faiths, values or beliefs."
Despite accusations that the Ofsted inspectors had a "predetermined outcome" in mind when inspecting the school, Ofsted has said that it found "no evidence its inspectors acted inappropriately", according to the BBC. The school principal had claimed that inspectors were "inappropriate" and "hostile" during the course of their investigation.
Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, who secured the debate in the Commons, said that it has been very difficult to get accurate information about the school and its funding.
Faith schools accused of blocking NHS sexual health experts from the classroom
Posted: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:13
Roman Catholic and Muslim faith schools in Blackburn have been accused of stopping the NHS Community Education Sexual Health team (CESH) from speaking with students about sex, relationships and contraception.
One member of the team said: "It's been extremely frustrating over ten or 12 years of working in this post. At one school a parent didn't like what we were doing and went to the governors. I then had a phone call from the school saying, I'm sorry, we have to take it out because you're talking about contraception."
The schools in question were not named by the CESH team, but several schools in the area told the Lancashire Telegraph that they handled all of their sex and relationship education (SRE) internally.
One Catholic school, which is planning to run sessions with the CESH team in the future, said that they currently provide "information around aspects of contraception in line with the Church's teaching."
Other schools encourage students to "formulate personal opinions" or to reach a "personal conclusion", whilst one, Our Lady and St John, instructs teachers to broach sex education "within the framework of the Catholic teaching on married life and contraception."
Whilst the schools in question are not accused of failing to deliver the minimum of sex and relationship education required by the national curriculum, CESH was set up in East Lancashire specifically because of the area's "historically high rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease", according to the Lancashire Telegraph.
Though several schools in the area told the Lancashire Telegraph that they provided their own SRE teaching internally, the CESH team warned that it may not be good enough in the future for schools to provide their own SRE education. CESH manager Sue Capstick said: "We would recommend that every school recognises the need for big cultural shift in the way we talk with, and listen to, young people about sex and relationships.
"Where in the past it may have been sufficient for staff in school to be the ones who do the condom demonstration or teach about body changes, we would highly recommend that schools ensure staff are up to date with the current themes around contraception and sexual health and have the confidence and skills needed to hold meaningful dialogue."
NSS campaigns manager Stephen Evans said: "The best interests of children must be the primary concern, and no school should be allowed to let religious dogma stand in the way of pupils receiving the unbiased information they need to prepare them for life in the outside world.
"As the experience in Blackburn demonstrates, the undue influence of religious groups involved in the running of faith schools is one of the main barriers to the provision of the kind of sex education that is needed to encourage a healthier, more knowledgeable and sexually autonomous younger generation."
A spokesman for one Catholic school referred the Lancashire Telegraph to the Diocese of Salford. The Diocese of Salford's published teaching guidance states: "The secular view about sex outside of marriage, contraception, sexually transmitted disease, including HIV and AIDs, and abortion should not be presented as neutral information."
The guidance also says that "only those authorities or agencies that are qualified to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church should be permitted to speak to pupils or individuals on sexual or any other matter involving faith and morals. Any outside authority or agency should be authorised by the head teacher before giving any input in this field."
The National Secular Society has previously called for statutory sex and relationship education in all schools, including faith schools.
Additionally, the NSS is a core member of the Sex Education Forum.
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)
