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
NSS urges council not to replace community school with faith school
Posted: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 15:05
The National Secular Society has warned Surrey County Council that its plan to turn a community school into a faith school would disadvantage non-Anglican families.
Surrey County Council, in partnership with the Diocese of Guildford, is proposing to open a new school by amalgamating two schools. Christ Church C of E Infant School and Englefield Green Infant School would be amalgamated into a single voluntary aided Church of England school on the Englefield Green site.
Englefield Green is the larger and more modern of the two schools.
Christ Church C of E Infant School and Englefield Green Infant School have experienced a decline in admissions in recent years. The council argues than keeping both schools open with surplus places is financially unsustainable.
In response to a public consultation the NSS has argued that "the most logical and equitable solution" would be to close Christ Church C of E Infant School and re-locate its pupils to Englefield Green Infant School without re-opening it as a voluntary aided faith school.
The NSS said the plan would unfairly disadvantage non-religious families and those of other faiths other than Anglican. It would leave parents who are not Anglican with little or no option than to send their child to an Anglican school, it said.
It also said the diocese's assertion that church schools are "not faith schools" was "misleading" and an "attempt to avoid association with the unpopularity of faith-based schooling".
The NSS argued that Surrey's school reorganisation plans should take into account the long-established demographic shift away from Church of England affiliation and respond accordingly. Just seven families chose Christ Church C of E Infant School for the 2019/2020 intake, suggesting few parents in the area specifically want a Church of England school.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "Clearly the council should reconsider this proposal and seek ways to reorganise education in the area without expanding faith-based provision.
"The council hasn't demonstrated any specific demand for Anglican faith school places and has provided no convincing rationale for wanting to expand them. The proposal serves the Church of England but fails Surrey residents.
"Given the dramatic shift away from Christianity, particularly amongst young people and those of parental age, it is utterly misguided to expand church school provision at the expense of community schools. The council should think again."
Notes:
- Only 12% of British people identify as Anglican – including just 1% of people aged 18-24. The population of Englefield Green area is significantly younger than the average for England and Wales and southeastern England, with 42% of residents being aged 18-29.
- The proposal says the new faith school will have the same admissions criteria as Englefield Green Infant School for September 2021. But as a VA faith school, in the future it could choose to select 100% of its pupils based on the religion of their parents, prioritising Anglican church-goers above other pupils when oversubscribed.
- Both Christ Church C of E Infant School and St Jude's C of E Junior School (which the proposal says would "work closely" with the new faith school) both operate discriminatory admission policies.
NSS: council wrong over baptism certificates in school admissions
Posted: Mon, 17 Feb 2020 15:58
The National Secular Society has criticised Renfrewshire Council over proposals to extend the priority given to children who are baptised Catholic for admission to Catholic schools.
The council plans to ask parents who wish their children to be prioritised for admission to Catholic primary schools to submit a Catholic baptismal certificate before it allocates places.
Currently children in Renfrewshire are allocated schools based on where they live. If schools are oversubscribed places are allocated by ballot, with no religious test applying at that stage.
Baptised Catholics are only given priority if parents then request a Catholic school instead of their allocated school.
Under the proposed changes children with baptism certificates would take priority over children with siblings at the same Catholic school and children who have medical needs that cannot be accommodated in any other school.
The council will also base the initial allocation of a child's secondary school on the denomination of their current school and their home address. Currently the child's address is the only factor at this stage of the process.
The council launched a consultation on the plans late last month, to run until 31 March.
The consultation says: "The proposal to change the admissions policy will allow the council to fulfil its duty to provide education to children and young people who are baptised into the Roman Catholic Church in a denominational school."
National Secular Society spokesperson Megan Manson said: "Extending discrimination against children on the basis of their religious background will alienate many families and entrench division, resentment and sectarianism.
"The council should focus on providing high quality education to all children equally, regardless of their families' religion or belief, rather than furthering the objectives of the Catholic Church. It should re-think these proposals and instead work on making schools more inclusive for all."
Notes
- The consultation will end on 31 March. Responses can be submitted here.
- If approved, the policy would take effect for the August 2021/22 intake.
- There are 16 Catholic primary schools and three Catholic secondary schools in Renfrewshire. There are no other state-funded faith schools in the area.
- The council has scheduled a consultation meeting at Trinity High School in Renfrew on Tuesday 18 February at 6:30pm.
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)
