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
Don’t let schools push creationism as science, NSS tells government
Posted: Fri, 20 Nov 2020 09:38
The National Secular Society has raised the alarm over a school which claims to teach creationism as science as it urged the government to defend children's rights in persistently failing independent faith schools.
The NSS has raised the case of The Vine Christian School in Berkshire in a letter to schools minister Elizabeth Berridge on children's rights in independent faith schools.
The school, which uses the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) programme as its core curriculum, says on the curriculum page of its website that "science is taught from the Biblical perspective of creation".
Legal standards allow independent schools to teach creationism as part of a belief system, but also say "it should not be presented as having a similar or superior evidence base to scientific theories".
Following the NSS's intervention, the Department for Education (DfE) has said it is considering options to ensure the education of children at the school is protected – including possibly deregistering the school.
Failures at the school
The Vine Christian School was found 'inadequate' on various grounds during an Ofsted inspection last year and was subject to an additional inspection last month. It failed to meet all the standards that were checked during that inspection.
The latest report features significant criticisms of the school's safeguarding policies. It says there is "not a secure culture of safeguarding in the school", adding: "Some pupils do not feel that they can talk about things that might be worrying them, because they think they are not allowed to."
Contents of NSS letter
The NSS's letter formed part of ongoing correspondence with the DfE over children's rights in independent faith schools which repeatedly fail inspections.
The society's chief executive Stephen Evans wrote that "intransigent proprietors of independent religious schools appear able to systematically undermine children's educational rights without consequence".
He added that the government was "falling short on its obligation" to children in consistently failing schools.
Previous NSS correspondence with government
The NSS first raised this subject in a letter to Berridge earlier this year.
One school which the NSS mentioned in its letter at the time, Bnois Jerusalem Girls School in north London, was criticised by Ofsted last year for teaching about creationism in geography and science.
In response, the minister said the DfE was considering what action to take over Bnois Jerusalem. She added that decisions over action against the schools had been delayed as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
DfE and school response to latest story
In a comment to iNews last night, a DfE spokesperson said: "The safety and education of our children and young people is paramount, regardless of the setting in which they are being taught.
"The Vine Christian School in Berkshire has failed to meet the independent school standards – and despite giving them time to improve they have not been able to do so. We are now discussing next steps, including deregistration.
"We will continue to work with the school, parents and families to ensure all children have access to an appropriate education."
The Vine school was contacted by i but declined to comment.
NSS comment
Mr Evans said: "Any school which teaches creationism in lieu of scientific theories is failing to prepare children for life in 21st century Britain and has breached the independent school standards.
"The Department for Education's response in this case is encouraging. Ministers must be prepared to take appropriate action where children's rights are being systematically undermined.
"But they should also address the wider concern that children are languishing in schools which are repeatedly and seriously failing. Religious sensitivities mustn't stand in the way of children's fundamental right to a quality education."
Wider concerns over the ACE curriculum and creationism
The web page of Christian Education Europe, a group which provides the ACE curriculum, says it supports "dozens of Christian Schools throughout the UK and Europe that are Christ-Centred, Character-Building, and Creation Based".
The group also says it works with at least 15 schools in England.
Four years ago nine faith schools which teach the ACE curriculum were downgraded following Ofsted inspections, amid concerns including the teaching of creationism.
And in 2017 an independent Christian primary school which used the ACE curriculum and taught the Bible's creation story in science lessons received a damning Ofsted report.
Convention protections of children's rights
- Mr Evans's letter noted that the European Convention on Human Rights affords parents the right to bring up their children in line with their religious beliefs. But it added that this must be balanced against children's independent rights.
- It also noted that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child protects children's right to "freedom of thought, conscience and religion".
Academisation leading to more religious control of schools, NSS finds
Posted: Wed, 21 Oct 2020 10:39
Religious groups have gained greater control over thousands of schools – including many which nominally have no religious character – as a result of opportunities created by academisation, the National Secular Society has revealed.
In Power grab: Academisation and the threat to secular education, the NSS says academisation and mixed multi-academy trusts (mixed MATs) have "seriously undermined community-ethos education in England".
The NSS has found around 2,650 community academies in England are now in MATs with a degree of religious governance. This figure represents almost half (48%) of all non-faith schools in MATs.
Meanwhile 265 schools have acquired an official faith designation or ethos after becoming academies in MATs.
And an estimated 19 to 38 academy trusts which have no religious designation or faith schools have direct religious involvement in their governance.
Diminishing secular oversight in faith schools which academise
The report has also revealed a trend of diminishing secular oversight in existing faith schools which have entered multi-academy trusts.
Seven in 10 former voluntary controlled (VC) schools which have entered MATs are in trusts where a majority of trustees are appointed on religious grounds. This amounts to more than 500 schools.
In VC schools only a minority of trustees are appointed on religious grounds.
Problems with academisation
The report identifies five ways the academisation process has enabled religious groups to consolidate control over schools:
- Community ethos academies have become subject to faith-based governance.
- Community schools have become faith schools as a result of academisation.
- Community ethos MATs have developed faith-based governance.
- Secular oversight of faith academies has diminished.
- Community schools' ethos has not been protected.
Recommendations
The report recommends:
- Increasing transparency over which trustees and governors are appointed on religious grounds and which are appointed through a secular process.
- A review of faith-based governance in non-faith academies and new guidance to strengthen the protection of their community school ethos.
- Strengthening the role of school communities over academisation decisions.
- Reversing the assumption that community schools should compromise on their secular governance structures, rather than faith schools compromising on theirs.
NSS comment
NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "Opaque academisation processes have substantially expanded religious groups' role in schools, making those responsible for children's education less accountable to society as a whole.
"With little public attention or debate, large swathes of England's education system have come under religious governance, while secular democratic oversight has diminished. An unhealthy bias towards religious schooling is undermining efforts to keep schools secular, and to check the extent of religious groups' control over faith schools.
"Our report recommends a series of practical steps which the government can take to address this in the short term. But it also notes that the best long-term solution would be to roll back faith-based education, so all state schools serve their communities equally and fairly – regardless of residents' religion or belief."
Read more and download the full report on our dedicated page.
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)
