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
20,000 children sent to faith schools against parental preferences
Posted: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 06:00
More than 20,000 children were sent to faith schools in England against the preferences of their parents earlier this month, National Secular Society research has exclusively revealed.
An NSS analysis of government data, revealed by the Department for Education (DfE) in response to a freedom of information request, has found that:
- 12,311 pupils were assigned faith secondary schools despite their parents requesting non-faith schools as their first choice during the application process.
- 8,333 pupils were assigned faith primary schools despite their parents requesting non-faith schools as their first choice.
- More than 4,300 of these children were sent to faith schools which they had not included in any of their choices.
The number of children being sent to faith schools against parental preference has risen from just over 18,000 in 2017, and almost 19,500 in 2018.
Twenty-one per cent of those who put a non-faith secondary school as their first choice and missed out on it were assigned a faith school. The corresponding figure at primary level was 14%.
National Secular Society head of education Alastair Lichten said:
"These figures show that many children are having religion pushed upon them against their parents' wishes. They add to a growing weight of evidence showing that faith schools restrict choice for many parents, adding uncertainty and confusion to an already complex admissions system.
"The best response would be to stop building new faith schools and roll back existing religious control over state schools – particularly in areas where non-faith schooling is highly restricted. This would guarantee that all children got an education which enabled them to make up their own minds about religion.
"Short of that the government must act to ensure that every child has the right to a suitable secular school within a reasonable distance. As Britain grows increasingly religiously diverse and irreligious, politicians cannot assume people will accept their children being sent to schools which endorse religion."
Last year the NSS revealed that almost three in 10 families in England lived in areas where most or all of the local primary schools were faith-based, in its groundbreaking report The Choice Delusion.
Other recent NSS research & lobbying
- Since 2018 the NSS has twice written to the Department for Education to urge it to ensure all parents had reasonable access to non-faith schools.
- Last year the government told the NSS that local authorities had a responsibility to "ensure there are the right number and types of places to both meet demand and to provide diversity and choice for parents".
- Last year NSS research showed that faith-based provision is treated preferentially during school reorganisations.
- The NSS has supported parents assigned faith schools from various religious traditions against their wishes. Faith schools from minority religious traditions are more likely to be undersubscribed and are therefore likely to exacerbate the difficulties facing parents who want to send their children to non-faith schools.
NSS rallies opposition to new selective Catholic school
Posted: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 15:47
The National Secular Society is resisting plans to open a Catholic school which could potentially select all its pupils on religious grounds in Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.
The NSS's No More Faith Schools campaign will hold a public meeting on Thursday 28 November to provide information about plans to open the school and rally opposition among local residents.
The meeting will take place shortly before Peterborough City Council opens a consultation on the plans on Thursday 21 November.
The NMFS campaign is also encouraging local supporters to sign a petition urging the council to support alternative proposals for new schooling in the area.
Under current proposals the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia will open a new voluntary aided (VA) school in the Hampton Water area of Peterborough. VA faith schools are allowed to choose up to 100% of their pupils on the basis of their families' religion if they are oversubscribed.
Earlier this year the NMFS campaign revealed that the proposal was in direct competition with an alternative proposal for an inclusive, secular school. The alternative plan is currently on hold while the VA school is being considered.
The council is expected to announce its final decision on whether to approve the VA school in February.
The NMFS campaign has been in contact with councillors and local residents who are opposed to the new faith school. The campaign also wrote to the government in May to urge it to approve inclusive alternatives to proposed VA faith schools in the area.
In March the government announced details of plans for 14 new proposed VA faith schools in various parts of England. The NMFS campaign has resisted the opening of these schools and the proposed school in Peterborough is the only one which the government has taken forward.
NMFS campaign coordinator Alastair Lichten said: "The plan to open a new selective faith school in Peterborough will exacerbate social division and undermine pupils' and teachers' freedom of religion and belief. We urge supporters of inclusive education to do what they can to resist it.
"A new school is required in Peterborough, but it should serve all its residents fairly. Where new schools are required they should be inclusive of all children, regardless of their religious background, and enable children to make their own minds up about religion."
This week the Catholic diocese of East Anglia opened its own consultation on the plan to open the school, in an apparent attempt to illustrate that it has public support.
Last year a government impact assessment found the decision to fund new VA faith schools would disadvantage families and teachers who do not share those schools' religion.
The government proposed opening new VA faith schools after abandoning plans to remove a limit on faith based selection at new academies last year.
What is a voluntary aided school?
- A VA faith school has a formal religious designation and a wide ability to both discriminate on the basis of that religion and promote it through the curriculum and other activities.
- The school acts as its own admissions authority and can appoint teachers on religious grounds. The religious foundation that founds the school appoints a majority of governors based on their ability to promote the school's religious ethos.
Read more about the campaign in Hampton Water on the NMFS campaign's dedicated campaign 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)
