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 refused permission to challenge faith school expansion in Wales
Posted: Mon, 3 Feb 2020 15:28
The National Secular Society has been refused permission for a judicial review against Vale of Glamorgan Council over the expansion of a Church in Wales faith school.
The NSS supported James Brunt, a local parent who attempted to challenge a decision to expand St David's Church in Wales Primary School in the village of Colwinston.
The expansion will see the school move to a new site previously earmarked for a possible new school. The Welsh government and Vale of Glamorgan Council are due to give buildings and land worth £4.2m to the Church in Wales for free.
The NSS and Mr Brunt argued that the council:
- Failed to consider the impact of its decision on families of other faiths and no religion;
- Used an irrational methodology to predict future demand for Church in Wales school places.
Vale of Glamorgan calculated that demand for Church in Wales places would be 52% of the total requirement generated by new local housing developments (69 out of 132 primary places).
In doing so, the council simply used existing provision as a proxy for determining future need – taking no account of actual levels of religious observance in the area.
But at a permission hearing at Civil and Family Justice Centre in Cardiff (pictured) last week, Justice Swift said the local authority's approach was "legally permissible".
The decision means new pupil places will be in a religious school that emphasises "the importance of prayer, worship and Christian teaching" and discriminates in admissions against children from non-Christian families.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said the decision not to grant permission for the review was "deeply frustrating".
"It's concerning that faith schools are being opened and expanded with little evidence of current or future demand for them. Vale of Glamorgan's decision will lead to a growing number of non-Christians being left with no option other than a Church in Wales school.
"The state is effectively forcing children into faith schools. This undermines parental rights and pupils' freedom to develop their own beliefs, free from religious influence.
"Politicians should not entrench and expand faith schooling without regard for the impact on or suitability for families, and the judicial system should ensure they are held to account when they do."
James Brunt said: "It is highly disappointing that the council, by its own admission, without any reference to religious demographics whatsoever, and without any attempt to predict future demand, has decided to increase the provision of faith school places in the Vale of Glamorgan.
"This is considerably more frustrating as the Western Vale, at 41%, has a significantly higher prevalence of faith school provision at a primary level than any other local authority in Wales; but a level of Christianity, as measured by the last census, that is virtually identical to the national average.
"Plainly, and without considerable effort, one can easily contend that the provision of faith schools in the Western Vale is already disproportionately high, and that any argument for additional community school places is, after all, rather well-founded."
NSS urges council not to approve discriminatory Catholic school
Posted: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:57
The National Secular Society has urged Peterborough City Council not to approve plans for a new religiously selective Catholic school, amid concerns about its impact on social cohesion and children's rights.
The NSS has appealed to the council's cabinet member for children's services, who is preparing to make a decision over a new voluntary aided (VA) school imminently.
The school would be the first state-funded Catholic school to open in England for almost a decade. The decision to open it is likely to mean an inclusive school with a community ethos cannot open.
In a decision notice issued last week, education officials advised Lynne Ayres, the councillor responsible for making the final decision, to approve plans to open the school.
This week the NSS has written to Ayres to urge her to support inclusive education by rejecting the proposal, which already has support from the Department for Education (DfE).
The NSS said opening the school would not be "suitable or fair for local families" or "in the best interests of community cohesion".
Exclusive Catholic ethos
The plan to open the school says it will have an exclusively Catholic ethos which will "permeate all areas of the curriculum and underpin the school's work and objectives".
VA faith schools are allowed to select up to 100% of their pupils on a religious basis, although the local Catholic diocese has said religious selection would be capped at 80% in the first year in Peterborough.
The proposal is also in direct conflict with an alternative bid to open a school with a community ethos at the same site, in the Hampton Water area of the city.
Explaining the letter, NSS chief executive Stephen Evans urged the council to "pause and consider the consequences before rubber-stamping this decision".
"Opening a religiously selective Catholic school would be a slap in the face for residents who don't share its religious ethos. Many families will ask why their taxes should fund a school which discriminates against their children.
"Faith schools, particularly voluntary aided faith schools, undermine children's independent right to form their own beliefs and harm social cohesion by giving those with religious worldviews privileged treatment. Peterborough City Council should reject this plan. And the government should encourage inclusive, secular schools to open where school places are needed."
In its letter the NSS highlighted comments collected by its No More Faith Schools campaign, which showed opposition to a religiously selective school among local residents.
The society also noted a local academy trust's concerns that the school will not meet local demand, would have an adverse impact on families and the environment and would undermine community cohesion.
The NSS is exploring the possibility of a legal challenge to the decision, should it be approved.
Government backing for new VA faith schools
The government announced plans for a new wave of VA faith schools, which act as their own admissions authority and can select up to 100% of their pupils on a religious basis, in 2018.
The decision came amid opposition to any limit on religious selection from the Catholic Education Service, which runs Catholic schools in England and Wales.
The DfE assigned funds for 14 VA faith schools in March 2019. Shortly beforehand a government assessment had said new VA schools would be bad for families and teachers who did not their faith and risked harming community cohesion.
The NSS has strongly lobbied against efforts to open these schools and in favour of inclusive, secular alternatives. The proposal to open a school in Peterborough is the only one to have reached this stage to date.
Further notes on VA faith schools
- In VA faith schools 100% of running costs and 90%+ of the capital costs are paid by the state. In this case the local Catholic diocese's capital contribution comes from public funds, as the city council has an agreement with a major housing developer to provide the school building. The costs for this are being passed to initial house purchasers.
- VA faith schools are permitted to teach denominational religious education (inspected by the religious body that runs them, rather than Ofsted).
- VA faith schools can apply a religious test when hiring, promoting or retaining any teacher (though in practice such discrimination is usually restricted to senior roles and RE teachers).
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)
