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
Pupils at failing Catholic school 'do not learn about other faiths'
Posted: Wed, 13 Jul 2022 13:28
A state-funded Catholic school has been criticised by inspectors for failing to teach pupils about other religions.
According to an Ofsted report published this month, pupils at Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Wigan "do not learn about faiths or cultures other than their own".
They are therefore "not well prepared to live in a diverse society".
The school was rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted for this and other failings, including its "poor" curriculum and high numbers of "vulnerable" pupils who do not attend school regularly.
Our Lady Immaculate is a voluntary aided school, which means it can teach religious education (RE) from its own exclusive viewpoint.
Its RE curriculum is delivered through the 'Come and See' scheme of work based on Catholic theology.
NSS: Faith schools "ill-suited" to 21st century education
National Secular Society head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "It is not surprising that faith schools permitted to teach RE from their own exclusive viewpoint fail to prepare children for living in a diverse society.
"This case demonstrates the inherent conflict between ensuring all children are taught about different faiths and cultures, and faith schools' desires to inculcate children with their particular religion.
"This intractable issue shows how ill-suited faith schools are to the educational needs of children in the 21st century."
Failings at independent faith schools
Other Ofsted reports published this month revealed a number of independent faith schools have also failed to meet standards:
- Ofsted conducted an unannounced monitoring visit to the Institute of Islamic Education in Dewsbury prompted by complaints about sexual abuse, safety and quality of care. The inspection found leaders failed to properly address a "serious allegation" of peer-on-peer sexual abuse and an assault on a pupil by other children. Similar concerns were raised last year.
- Wiznitz Cheder School, a Jewish school in London, gives "too little time" to secular subjects. Despite developing a plan to teach about different religions and cultures and different types of families, it has not ensured that these plans are applied effectively in the classroom.
- Pupils at Talmud Torah Yetev Lev, another Jewish school in London, continue to have a "limited understanding" of other faiths and cultures despite repeated concerns raised. The school has also failed to meet safeguarding standards.
Gov't refuses to end faith school discrimination despite inequalities
Posted: Wed, 29 Jun 2022 10:05
The National Secular Society has called on the government to act to end faith-based school admissions after a minister admitted they cause inequality.
Last Friday Secretary of State for Education Robin Walker said a "smaller proportion of disadvantaged and minority ethnic pupils" attend church schools compared to other schools, according to 2018 research by the Department for Education (DfE).
He said this was due to a "range of factors" including "admissions oversubscription criteria" and parental preference.
He was responding to a parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, who asked earlier this month whether he had made an assessment of the "potential impact of religious selection on socioeconomic inclusion in schools."
She also asked if he will "make it his policy to reduce the number of school places offered on a faith basis".
Walker said the DfE "understands that the ability to prioritise children of faith when oversubscribed is important to faith schools and we do not intend to change that."
He said the DfE "expects all schools, including faith schools, to be open and inclusive".
He added: "All schools, including faith schools, must ensure that their admission arrangements are fair and objective, and that the arrangements will not disadvantage unfairly a child from a particular social or racial group."
But most state-funded faith schools are permitted to discriminate against pupils on the basis of their religion or belief due to exemptions in equality law. Exceptions in the Equality Act 2010, secured following heavy lobbying from religious groups, allow faith schools to prioritise children from families who are active members of the religion of the school above other children.
Walker used his response to praise faith schools, saying the DfE "values the contribution that they make to a diverse school system".
The government policy on faith schools in England differs considerably from its position in Northern Ireland. Last week NI Secretary Brandon Lewis announced the government would set up a programme to support integrated schools, where children from all religion and belief backgrounds are educated together. The programme will "promote the benefits of integrated education" to parents, teachers and pupils.
NSS comment
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said Walker's comments revealed support for religious selection at faith schools is "increasingly difficult to justify".
She said: "The government's own research demonstrates discriminatory faith school admissions contribute to socioeconomic and ethnic segregation in our school system.
"And yet they refuse to act to end religious selection in the schools all our taxes pay for, whatever our religion or belief, out of fear of upsetting the faith groups that control these schools.
"The government may say it expects faith schools to be 'open and inclusive'. But it is impossible for a school based on a specific religious to be truly inclusive of children from all backgrounds – and especially a school that deprioritises children from the 'wrong' faith or belief background in its admissions criteria."
"The government's policy for schools in England is also completely at odds with its more progressive approach in Northern Ireland, where it is increasingly pushing for schools to be truly inclusive of all – and rightly so.
"But how can it convincingly argue to people in Northern Ireland that integrated schools are the best way to educate children while it continues to support divisive faith schools in the rest of the UK?"
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)
