Religious Education is outdated, unpopular and opens the door to proselytising.
There are many more subjects children and young people need to learn.
It's time to replace RE with something more appropriate for 21st century students.
It is important for children and young people to learn about different religions and beliefs. But we don't think our schools need a dedicated subject to do this – especially a subject as out-of-date and as irrelevant as Religious Education (RE).
Surveys consistently show RE is one of the least popular school subjects, an indication of its increasing irrelevance.
58% of British adults think religious studies is unimportant at secondary schools. And a quarter of England's secondary schools do not offer RE.
Unlike any other compulsory subject, RE is determined at a local level in England. In each local authority the agreed syllabus for RE is determined by committees representing the Church of England and other religion and belief groups, as well as the local authority and teacher's groups.
As a result, schools not only face a local lottery regarding what their RE syllabus will contain; they will have to teach a subject under significant control from religious interest groups. These groups are strongly motivated to ensure their religion is represented in an overwhelmingly positive light. The current arrangements mean the subject lacks objectivity.
Many faith schools don't even need to follow the locally agreed syllabus and can instead teach religion from their own exclusive viewpoint.
A new nationally-determined civics and citizenship subject could encompass teaching about religious and nonreligious worldviews and allow students to consider moral and ethical issues. Religion and belief could also be explored in other relevant areas of the curriculum.
In Wales, RE has recently been replaced with Religions, Values and Ethics (RVE). While we welcome this broader and more inclusive subject, problems remain regarding the influence of religious groups and exceptions allowing faith schools to teach confessional RE.
We need a reformed subject to ensure education about religion and belief is broad, balanced and proportionate.
We've created a series of resources – Exploring Secularism – for anyone wishing to explore issues of religion, belief, ethics, and worldviews in schools. The resources aim to provide teachers with the material they need to engage with secularism in an informed way.
As British society considers how to respond to greater religious diversity and growing irreligiosity, it is become increasingly important for children and young people to develop their understanding of the interaction between religion, society, and politics. The study of secularism explores this interaction, together with questions about how we balance freedom of, and from, religion with other rights.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Support our campaign to ensure every pupil has the same entitlement to high quality, non-partisan education about religious and non-religious worldviews.
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
Religious education reform bill advances in parliament
Posted: Mon, 6 Feb 2023 14:50
A bill that would require schools to teach non-religious worldviews in religious education has advanced in the House of Lords.
The Education (Non-religious Philosophical Convictions) Bill would rename religious education (RE) "religion and worldviews" (RW) and require most state funded schools to teach non-religious worldviews alongside religious ones.
Voluntary-aided schools with a religious character would be exempt from the changes.
According to its creator, Baroness Burt of Solihull, the bill would bring the syllabus in line with legal requirements under the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) and English case law.
During a House of Lords debate on Friday, Burt cited the 2015 case of Fox v Secretary of State for Education, in which the court held: "The State must accord equal respect to different religious convictions, and to non-religious beliefs: it is not entitled to discriminate between religions and beliefs on a qualitative basis".
"Too many schools, and too many locally agreed syllabuses, still fail to afford equal respect to non-religious worldviews", she noted.
This is despite 2010 government guidance on RE which states: "Pupils should have the opportunity to learn that there are those who do not hold religious beliefs and have their own philosophical perspectives, and subject matter should facilitate integration and promotion of shared values".
Unlike any other mandatory subject, RE syllabuses are locally determined through Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs). While they have the option to include non-religious worldviews, this is not mandatory. Some SACREs exclude representatives of non-religious worldviews, such as humanism, or deny them voting rights.
Under the bill, it would be compulsory for SACREs to include non-religious representatives.
Baroness Burt also invoked Article 2 of the First Protocol of the ECHR, which requires schools to provide religious education in line with the philosophical views of students' parents. Last year, the High Court in Northern Ireland ruled a near exclusive focus on Christianity in RE and collective worship constituted a human rights violation.
The bill's approach has been endorsed by both the Religious Education Council of England and Wales and the most recent commission on RE, chaired by the then Dean of Westminster. It is already being implemented in Wales under the name "Religion, Values and Ethics".
The bill enjoyed support from both non-religious and religious peers alike. Lord Griffiths of Bury, former president of the Methodist Conference, said it was long overdue that "we Christians put our faith out into the marketplace, where it can hold its own or not according to the interplay of forces and realities that exist in the real world that we live in."
Baroness Uddin, who is a Muslim, said the current "majority Christian environment" is "inflexible and polarised", leaving children who do not share that belief "isolated" and marginalised. Baroness Bakewell said the 2021 Census results, which show Christianity is now a minority religion in England and Wales, highlighted the need for reform.
Lord Cashman said current RE provision falls short of the "critical and pluralistic" approach required by case law and that we have "everything to gain from a wide education".
The Bishop of Southwark, opposing the bill, said it was "a failure of … intellect" to not "support the role of religion in public life".
Speaking on behalf of the government, Baroness Barran said: "Christianity remains the most common response in the census, and it is therefore appropriate that religious education in schools without a religious designation should continue to be, in the main, of a broadly or wholly Christian nature".
The bill will now be scrutinised by the entire chamber at the Committee Stage.
NSS: 'Reform is now long overdue'
NSS campaigns officer Alejandro Sanchez said: "Welsh schoolchildren are already reaping the benefits of a more critical and pluralistic approach in the new Religion, Values and Ethics curriculum.
"Their English counterparts should be equally entitled to an education that puts religious and non-religious views on an equal footing.
"Christianity is now a minority religion in England. That it continues to dominate religious education in our schools is completely untenable.
"Reform is now long overdue."
Image: Dragana Gordic, Shutterstock
Study: Nonreligious children excluded in religious education
Posted: Wed, 7 Dec 2022 07:59
Nonreligious children may find religious education lessons "excluding", researchers have found.
A recent study published in Journal of Religious Education concluded religious education (RE) "needs to change" in order to meet the needs of nonreligious pupils.
The study, which was based on interviews with children, parents and teachers at three primary schools in England, said finding "ways to better engage" nonreligious children in RE is an "urgent task", as they represent "the new normal" in the UK's religious landscape.
The 2021 Census revealed that for the first time, less than half the population in England and Wales are Christian (46%), while the number of those without a religion has risen to 37%, making this the second largest religion or belief group.
RE is the only compulsory subject in England that is locally determined and is largely controlled by religious interest groups on the committees which determine the syllabus, even in nonreligious schools. Representatives of nonreligious worldviews are often excluded or denied voting rights on RE committees. Schools with a religious character must teach RE in accordance with the beliefs of the religion or denomination of the school.
In Wales, RE has been renamed 'religion, values and ethics' and must teach religious and non-religious worldviews.
RE 'violating' children's sense of "equality and fairness"
The researchers said many nonreligious children are "not being given meaningful opportunities to explore their own worldviews". They found debates about religion in RE are "perhaps more likely to exclude those children" who find questions about belief in God are "of little relevance".
One pupil said being nonreligious was not discussed in RE, which made her feel "not really cared about". Other children at the same school also expressed that they would like nonreligious viewpoints to be included in RE.
Some children had "inhibitions" around discussing their own perspectives in RE due to "worries that sharing their views might risk disrespecting others".
Social justice, equality and the environment were issues "of considerably more salience" for nonreligious children than belief or non-belief in gods, the researchers found.
Children's views included the idea that everyone "should be able to determine their own beliefs", that everyone "should be treated equally regardless of belief".
RE could therefore be experienced as "violating their own commitment to principles of equality and fairness", the researchers said.
Some teachers described organised religion as "hypocritical" or "immoral", especially on issues related to gender and sexuality. Some pupils also expressed that their rejection of religion related to gender equality.
The researchers said their findings support proposals to include nonreligious worldviews in the curriculum, which "can give pupils a vocabulary through which to be able to express their worldviews in a way that is currently not happening for many".
NSS: "More radical reforms" needed than simply including nonreligious worldviews
NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "This study suggests RE in England needs a fundamental rethink.
"Ensuring nonreligious worldviews are included would be a start. But more radical reforms are needed to meet the needs of children today.
"The research demonstrated many children are far more interested in issues relating to social justice which are pertinent to their everyday experiences.
"Schools urgently need a subject that will allow pupils to explore these topics – without forcing them through the prism of religion, which for many pupils is alienating and irrelevant.
"A new civics or citizenship subject, where objective and balanced education about religion is included but does not dominate, would enhance pupils' engagement and understanding of some of the most important yet difficult social issues they will confront as they grow up."
