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
Scrap faith groups’ inspections of schools, says NSS report
Posted: Tue, 27 Apr 2021 08:32
Inspections of state schools which are carried out by religious groups are inappropriate and should be scrapped, a National Secular Society report has said.
The NSS's report, Religiosity inspections: the case against faith-based reviews of state schools, says the inspections give religious groups undue influence over children's education.
The inspections are legally required under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005, in England, and Section 50 of the act in Wales.
They are intended to ensure that schools' religious education, denominational worship and overall environment promote a rigorous and specific faith ethos.
Report findings
The NSS's report draws on evidence from case studies and qualitative and quantitative analysis of inspection reports.
It says faith bodies use the inspections to promote their own interests and exert influence over the way education is provided.
It adds that the inspections help to enforce a different set of standards and educational aims in faith schools.
It also says:
- More than four in five of the inspection reports which the NSS analysed framed widely held values as uniquely or fundamentally Christian, with more than six in 10 urging schools to be more explicit about this.
- The inspections cost £760,000 a year on average. Each added the equivalent of up to 14% of the cost of a standard inspection.
- The reports tended to conflate successful RE with the promotion of Christian viewpoints, with half of them explicitly promoting the Church of England's own evangelical resource.
- The inspections create additional standards and aims to those carried out by Ofsted and Estyn, and can place a significant stress on teachers and senior leaders.
Key recommendations
The report recommends the repeal of Sections 48 and 50 of the Education Act, to end the inappropriate inspection regime, and extending Ofsted and Estyn inspections to cover religious education in all schools.
It also says:
- Public funding of faith-based inspections should end.
- The government should issue guidance on third party inspections of state schools.
- Ofsted and Estyn inspections should be strengthened to ensure all schools are promoting an appropriate and inclusive ethos.
Comment
NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "Religiosity inspections are an inappropriate platform for faith groups to push their agendas in school.
"The inspections make it harder for schools to teach about religion impartially, and for the state to hold them to account for doing so, while creating needless burdens for both the taxpayer and teachers.
"Religious groups should have no business inspecting state-funded schools. The government should scrap this requirement and ensure any school inspection regime is based on secular educational aims."
Read more: Faith groups have no business inspecting schools, by NSS CEO Stephen Evans on Medium.
Update, 8 June 2020:
The government has said there are "no plans to change the current arrangements for the inspection of designated faith schools" after the NSS's report was raised in a parliamentary question.
Beware religious impositions on women’s health, says NSS
Posted: Thu, 8 Apr 2021 16:12
The National Secular Society has urged the government to ensure women's health is prioritised over religious concerns in response to a consultation.
The NSS has responded to a call for evidence from the Department of Health and Social Care on a proposed strategy for women's health in England.
The society warned that women in religious communities, particularly conservative and insular communities, often face significant barriers to information and education that may be relevant to their health.
The society added that the government should seek to protect women's individual rights, and shouldn't necessarily accept that community and religious leaders speak on behalf of women within their communities on relevant issues.
Reproductive rights and violence against women
Among the points it raised, the NSS said:
- Abortion should be decriminalised and free access to abortion clinics without intimidation or harassment should be protected.
- There should be stronger action against charities which condone or promote misogyny, violence against women and girls, or FGM. Ministers should also be aware that religious 'courts' may play a part in prolonging domestic abuse.
- Pharmacies should ensure women can access the morning after pill without having to go elsewhere, amid examples of women who have been refused service by staff citing religious concerns.
- The government should ban 'virginity testing'.
- LGBT+ women in religious communities in particular may be more vulnerable to mental health issues and may be targeted for 'conversion therapy'.
Religion and women's health in schools
The NSS also addressed the role of schools' approach to relationships and sexual health in part of its response, saying:
- Religious opt-outs and exceptions for relationships and sex education enable some faith schools to teach stigmatising ideas about contraception, abortion, menstruation and same-sex relationships.
- Repealing the parental right of withdrawal from RSE would enable more girls to understand these issues.
- Some state-funded faith schools have worked to limit girls' education on relevant issues.
The society also expressed concern that language in recent government guidance on period products in schools and colleges appears to suggest parents' religious concerns may take precedence over their daughters' needs and preferences.
For example, the guidance says: "Parents or carers may object to the use of some period products. You should consider the views of learners and parents or carers from all religious and cultural backgrounds when ordering products."
You can read the NSS's submission in full.
Image: Miriam Doerr Martin Frommherz/Shutterstock.com.
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)
