Education & Schools
Faith schools
- Voters of all religions and beliefs overwhelmingly oppose school selection by faith
Source: Populus/Accord Coalition | Related: Proposed changes to faith-based admissions and new faith-based academies - 58% of the adult population oppose faith schools and only 30% say they have "no objection" to faith schools being funded by the state.
Source: Opinium (2014) - Only one third of adults in Britain approve of state funding for faith schools. Nearly half actively disapprove, and the rest say they 'don't know'.
Source: YouGov/Westminster Faith Debates | Related: Opinion poll shows big opposition to faith schools (2013) - Only a quarter of people in Britain who might have a school-age child say they would send him or her to a faith school.
Source: YouGov/Westminster Faith Debates | Related: Opinion poll shows big opposition to faith schools (2013) - 72% of voters oppose state funded schools, including faith schools, being allowed to select or discriminate against prospective pupils on religious grounds in their admissions policy, including 68% of Christians.
Source: Populus - People say that academic standards matter most in choosing a school. 70% said they would choose a school on the basis of its academic standard; 23% said they would choose on basis of ethical standards; 5% said they would choose on the basis of giving a "grounding in faith tradition"; and only 3% for "transmission of belief about God".
Source: YouGov - There is no evidence that religious ethos contributes to academic achievement in schools.
Source: Institute for Public Policy Research| Related: "No evidence" that denominational schools are academically superior, study finds (2017) - Primary faith schools are more ethnically segregated than schools of no faith.
Source: Challenge, SchoolDash and the iCoCo Foundation| Related: Report confirms deep ethnic divisions in English faith schools (2017) - Parents from more affluent backgrounds more than 80% more likely than average to fake religiosity in order to get into good selective faith schools.
Source: The Sutton Trust | Related: Proposed changes to faith-based admissions and new faith-based academies - Faith schools tend to be more socio-economically exclusive than non-faith schools. Comprehensive secondary schools with no religious character admit 11% more pupils eligible for free school meals than live in their local areas. Comprehensive Church of England secondaries admit 10% fewer; Roman Catholic secondaries 24% fewer; Jewish secondaries 61% fewer; and Muslim secondaries 25% fewer.
Source: Fair Admissions Campaign | Related: New research reveals socio-economic segregation impact of faith schools (2013) - Only 1 in 8 of dioceses surveyed advise their schools not to engage in faith-based selection. In contrast, 1 in 4 advise them to reserve some places on faith grounds.
Source: Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education | Related: Church of England 'misselling school admissions policies' (2017) - 69% of people in Northern Ireland support integrated education.
Source: Sky Data | Related: NSS calls for school integration in NI amid religious polarisation - Between January 2000 and January 2017 the proportion of faith schools increased steadily, from 35% to 37% of primaries and from 16% to 19% of secondaries.
Source: House of Commons Library
Independent faith schools
- Almost half of independent faith schools have been rated as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' since Ofsted introduced new standards for inspections.
Source: Ofsted | Related news: Half of independent faith schools failing (2017) - Thousands of missing children at risk of religious extremism in illegal faith schools. In 2014-15, of the 30,000 children who had been absent from school for an extended period of time, almost 4,000 "could not be traced by the authorities."
Source: BBC | Related news: Thousands of missing children at risk of religious extremism in illegal faith schools (2016) - Ofsted has identified at least 350 possible 'schools' that may be unregistered. Experts say they have been fuelled by a surge in home-educated children whose number has risen by almost 50 per cent in five years to at least 33,000.
Source: The Times| Related News: Extremists exploit lax home schooling laws, police study finds (2018)
Compulsory worship
- 179,300 children attended weekly school church services in 2016 – up from 168,900 in 2015. The figure has risen every year since 2013.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016 - 38% of Scots say there should be no place for religious observance in Scottish schools.
- Source: The Times| Related: Scottish Government consults on religious observance, as poll shows majority favour reform (2017)
- 17% of Scots favour the continuation of religious observance in schools, provided children could take themselves out of worship without parental consent.
Source: The Times| Related: Scottish Government consults on religious observance, as poll shows majority favour reform (2017) - The current law in England and Wales requiring state schools to hold a daily act of broadly Christian worship is not strongly supported, with almost as many Christians opposed to it (36%) as in favour (39%). Source: ComRes 2011
- 70% of parents are opposed to enforcing the law that prescribes a daily act of worship.
Source: ComRes/BBC | Related: Collective Worship Briefing - More children attend compulsory collective worship in Church of England schools each day than there are regular church-goers.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016
School evangelism
- Nearly half of all CofE churches send a member of their ministry into schools to lead an act of worship.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016 - In a survey of 300 schools, only 35% of schools had a policy which covered the participation, invitation or behaviour of external visitors and speakers. Only 16% of schools had a policy or policies concerning the partisan promotion of religious or political beliefs by external groups/visitors/speakers.
Source: NSS - No policies of schools surveyed requires parents to be informed of visitors in advance, and no policies clearly prohibited religious proselytization or required a teacher/staff member to introduce an external visitor and make clear that they are representing their religious views.
Source: NSS - Studies in 2009 found that the number of dedicated school chaplains increased by 25% in five years
Source: The Guardian
Religious education
- A quarter of England's secondary schools do not offer RE.
Source: National Association for RE Teachers| Related news: Schools sidelining RE, survey finds (2017) - In a poll asking members of the public to rank 18 school subjects based on importance, people placed religious studies 15th, ahead only of Drama, Classics and Latin.
Source: YouGov| Related news: Majority of Britons see religious studies as unimportant (2018) - More than half of those polled said religious studies was either 'not very important' or 'not at all important', with more than a quarter saying the latter. Just 12% said it was 'very important'.
Source: YouGov| Related news: Majority of Britons see religious studies as unimportant (2018) - 57% think state-funded schools should teach knowledge about the world's main faiths even-handedly, without any bias towards any particular religion, and without trying to inculcate belief.
Source: Ipsos MORI (2011) - More Christians oppose (38%) than support (31%) the teaching of 6-day creationism in state-funded school science lessons.
Source: Ipsos MORI (2011)
Religion and the State
Religiosity in the UK
- The UK is the sixth least religious country in the world.
Source: WIN/Gallup international| Related: Survey: UK is one of the least religious countries in the world (2015) - 53% of British people have 'no religion'. The figure has risen from 48% since 2015 and 31% since 1983.
Source: NatCen| Related: More than half of Brits now non-religious, study finds (2017) - Between 2015-16, 71% of people aged 18-24 said they had no religion. That figure has risen 9% in one year.
Source: NatCen| Related: More than half of Brits now non-religious, study finds (2017) - And in 2018 it was found 70% of 16- to 29-year-olds in the UK say they have no religion and 59% say they never attend a religious service.
Source: European Social Survey | Related: Most young people in UK have no religion, says survey (2018) - 68% of Britons say that religion is "not important" to their own life.
Source: YouGov/Sunday Times | Related: As Cameron says UK "still a Christian country", 62% tell YouGov they are "not religious" (2015) - Just 23% of Britons under 65 say religion defines them personally.
Source: Ipsos| Related: More than 60% of Brits under 65 say religion does "more harm than good" (2017) - 85% of people aged 66+ say they were brought up in a religion, compared to 60% of 18-25 year olds.
Source: BSA - 75% of Britons have never been influenced by a religious leader.
Source: YouGov/The Tablet | Related: 75% of Britons have never been influenced by a religious leader (2015) - Total church attendance in Britain by 2050 is projected to decline to 899,000, of which Anglicans would comprise less than 100,000. Meanwhile, the active Hindu population currently at some 400,000, will have more than doubled to 855,000 and there will be 2.6m active Muslims in Britain.
Source: Christian Research | Related: Religious representatives in the House of Lords briefing - More than six in ten under-65s in Britain think religion does more harm than good, with no evidence linking this to religious intolerance.
Source: Ipsos| Related news: More than 60% of Brits under 65 say religion does "more harm than good" (2017) - 90% of adults in England do no religious activity at all on Sunday, more than 95% do none on Saturday, Fridays or Wednesdays. 98% do none on Thursdays, Tuesdays or Monday.
Source: Brierley Consultancy| Related: New analysis shows very few people in England engage in religious activity (2013) - Religious radio programmes are "least popular" and "least well received"
Source: BBC | Related: BBC Trust: Religious radio programmes are "least popular" and "least well received" – but we won't change them (2015) - Religion is the least popular genre of programming on TV.
Source: TeleScope | Related: New report confirms that religious TV is least popular genre – but the BBC won't let up - People with no religion in Ireland account for just under 10% of the population. 45% of those with no religion are 20-30 year olds.
Source: Irish Central Statistics Office| Related: Ireland sees 73% increase in number of non-believers (2017
Christianity in the UK
- Only 6% of adults in Britain are practising Christians, and very few of them decided to become Christians during adulthood.
Source: ComRes| Related news: Just 6% of British adults are practising Christians, survey finds (2017) - Between 2001 and 2011 there was a decrease in people who identify as Christian (from 71.7% to 59.3%) and an increase in those reporting no religion (from 14.8% to 25.1%). There were increases in the other main religious group categories, with the number of Muslims increasing the most (from 3.0% to 4.8%).
Source: 2011 Census - Under-40s in Britain are nearly twice as likely to be non-religious than Christian.
Source: Lancaster University| Related news: A new secular settlement is necessary for a country where "no religion is the new norm" (2016) - 40% of English people do not think that Jesus was a real, historical person.
Source: Church of England| Related news: Poll: widespread indifference to Christian beliefs, but Christians feel comfortable discussing their faith (2015) - 69% say that Christianity has had, or would have, no or not very much influence in their choice of marriage partner, and 81% say it has no or not very much influence on whom they socialise with.
Source: Ipsos MORI - 78% say Christianity would have no, or not very much, influence on how they vote in General Elections, with 16% saying it would influence them a great deal (4%) or a fair amount (12%).
Source: Ipsos MORI
Attitudes to religion and the state
- 81% of people agree with the statement: "Religious practice is a private matter and should be separated from the political and economic life of my country". 6% disagree.
Source: YouGov-Cambridge Poll - 62% of Britons say there is "no place in UK politics for religious influence of any kind"
Source: ComRes/Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association| Related: 62% say there is "no place in UK politics for religious influence of any kind" (2016) - 79% strongly agree or tend to agree that governments should not interfere in religion, with 8% strongly disagreeing or tending to disagree.
Source: Ipsos MORI - 53% agree that the place of religion in our society is too important in the UK.
Source: Eurobarometer - 76% of people say that religious leaders should not influence how people vote in elections. 6% think they should.
Source: YouGov-Cambridge Poll - 71% of people say that religious leaders should have no influence over the decisions of the government, whilst 8% said they should.
Source: YouGov-Cambridge Poll - 65% of people say that Britain would not be a better place if more religious leaders held public office, whilst 7% said it would.
Source: YouGov-Cambridge Poll - The public's least favoured candidates for appointment to the House of Lords are religious representatives.
Source: YouGov | Related: Religious representatives in the House of Lords briefing - 62% of British people think that no religious clerics should have an automatic right to seats in the House of Lords. Only 8% of people said the bishops should retain their seats.
Source: YouGov/The Times | Related: Religion and politics should not mix, says British public (2017) - 65% of British people think political figures should keep their religious beliefs cordoned off from their decision making, with just 14% saying the opposite.
Source: YouGov/The Times | Related: Religion and politics should not mix, says British public (2017) - Only 31% of 18-24 year olds say Britain is a Christian country.
Source: ComRes| Related: Britain has no national religious identity, say 18 to 24s (2017) - Opinion polls show that Catholic bishops seek to exert the greatest public influence on the very issues at which they are at the greatest variance from Catholics in the pews.
Source: YouGov/ITV | Related: Religious representation in the House of Lords briefing
The Church of England & disestablishment
- 53% of countries in the world have no official or preferred religion. Only 22% do have an official state religion, including the UK.
Source: Pew Research Center| Related: Restrictions on religion higher in countries with official religions – report (2017) - 51% of Britons believe state and church should be separate.
Source: YouGov/Prospect | Related: Majority of Britons believe state and church should be separate (2013) - More oppose than support the idea of the UK having an official state religion, with nearly half (46%) against and a third (32%) in favour.
Source: Ipsos MORI - Three-quarters of the public and 70% of Christians believe it is wrong for Bishops to have reserved places in the House of Lords
Source: ICM Research | Related: Religious representatives in the House of Lords briefing - Less than 2% of the population regularly attend CofE church services.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016 - Church of England attendance fell by approximately 15% between 2006-2016. Easter attendance fell by 17%, Christmas attendance by 10%.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016 - The median average CofE church is attended by 35 people a week.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016 - Church of England marriages and related services have fallen by over 20% between 2006-2016. Baptisms and thanksgivings have fallen by 15%, funerals by 28%.
Source: Statistics for Mission 2016 - Just 3% of those aged 18-24 described themselves as Anglican, compared to 40% of those aged 75 and over.
Source: NatCen| Related: More than half of Brits now non-religious, study finds (2017) - One in seven clerics would support full disestablishment of the Church of England and three in 10 said it should retain only "some aspects" of its current status with formal ties to the state.
Source: YouGov/University of Lancaster and Westminster Faith Debates | Related: Significant minority of Anglican clergy favour disestablishment (2014) - In 2016, repairs to churches and cathedrals cost the government £14.5 million.
Source: Department for Culture, Media and Sport| Related: Government is irresponsible to lavish more funds on Cathedrals when the Church can afford to pay (2016) - The Church of England is thought to hold assets in excess of £15bn. Despite this, at least £810m of public money has been channelled into the Church via Government and lottery sources since 1999.
Source: The Taylor Review: Sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals | Related: NSS urges Government not to be pushed into funding Church repairs (2018)
Freedom of Expression
Free speech & 'blasphemy'
- 71 countries restrict freedom of expression on religious issues
Source: US Commission on International Religious Freedom | Related: Blasphemy laws "astonishingly widespread (2017)" - Only 54% of people believe they should be allowed to say whatever they believe about religion.
Source: Hope Not Hate| Related news: 46% in England support legal limits on free speech where religion is concerned, poll find (2016) - 43% of universities restrict speech that might "offend" religious people.
Source: Spiked| Related news: 43% of universities restrict speech that might "offend" religious people (2017) - 78% of British Muslims say there should be no right to publish images of Mohammed.
Source: ICM/Channel 4 | Related news: Muslim support for theocracy, not terrorism, is the real threat to confront (2016) - 11% of UK Muslims agreed with the statement, "organisations which publish images of the Prophet Mohammed deserve to be attacked".
Source: BBC| Related news: New poll shows significant minority of UK Muslims support attacks on Charlie Hebdo (2015) - In 2009 the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution, urging member states to put laws in place to prevent criticism of religion. Members of the Human Rights Council voted 23 in favour of the resolution, while only 11 nations opposed it and 13 countries abstained from voting. The resolution can now "be used to silence progressive voices who criticise laws and customs that are based on religious texts and precepts".
Source: Women Living Under Muslim Laws | Related: What secularism means for African women's rights and citizenship (2018)
Equality & Human Rights
One law for all
- There is no official figure of the number of sharia councils in the UK. The review estimated there were "at least 35" sharia councils in the UK. Almost nine years ago a study by the think tank Civitas estimated that more than 85 sharia bodies were operating in Britain
Source: Home Office/Civitas| Related news: NSS welcomes Home Office decision not to regulate sharia 'courts' (2018) - Just 2% disagree with the statement that the law should apply to everyone equally, regardless of their personal religious beliefs, with 92% supporting it.
Source: Ipsos MORI - 43% of UK Muslims support "the introduction of Sharia Law" and just 22% are opposed. 16% of British Muslims "strongly support" the "introduction of aspects of Sharia law into Britain".
Source: Policy Exchange| Related news: Over 40% of UK Muslims support "aspects" of sharia law (2016)
Equality laws
- More than four in ten countries severely discriminate against non-religious individuals.
Source: IHEU | Related: Secularism 'regressing on a global scale', says report (2017) - In 22 countries laws punish those who change their religion; 12 of these issue the death penalty.
Source: IHEU | Related: Secularism 'regressing on a global scale', says report (2017) - Non-religious people are more socially liberal than believers on a wide range of issues. Almost nine in ten people with no religion say pre-marital sex, for example, is "not wrong at all". This is compared to 73% of Anglicans, 76% of Catholics, 62% of other Christians and 33% of non-Christian religious people.
Source: NatCen| Related: More than half of Brits now non-religious, study finds (2017) - Only 8% of the population express approval of the Church of England's current policies towards women — and that includes Anglicans. Only 6% of the population express approval of the Catholic Church's current policies towards women — and that includes Catholics.
Source: YouGov/Westminster Faith Debates| Related news: New evidence that churches are completely out of step with society (2013) - 60% of people agree that homosexuals should have the same legal rights in all aspects of their lives as heterosexuals.
Source: Ipsos MORI - 29% of people disapprove of sexual relations between two adults of the same sex; 46% do not.
Source: Ipsos MORI - 94% of Catholics want the Church to be more welcoming of same-sex couples, single parents and divorced people.
Source: ACTA| Related: Huge gulf between Catholics and Church leaders over social issues, survey finds (2015) - 55% of Catholics disagree with the Vatican over same-sex marriage and 84% agree with the statement "Love is love, whether it is heterosexual or homosexual. We could learn a lot from homosexual couples."
Source: ACTA| Related: Huge gulf between Catholics and Church leaders over social issues, survey finds (2015) - 88% of Catholics object to the Catholic Church's teaching of "refusing access to the sacraments for the divorced and remarried."
Source: ACTA| Related: Huge gulf between Catholics and Church leaders over social issues, survey finds (2015) - 18% of British Muslims agree that homosexuality should be legal (8% strongly agreeing), while 52% disagree (38% strongly). There were clear splits among age groups, with 57% of 18-24 year-olds and 79% of 25-34 year-olds agreeing homosexuality should be legal with older age groups being more opposed.
Source: ICM/Channel 4 | Related: Muslim support for theocracy, not terrorism, is the real threat to confront (2016) - 16% of British Muslims agreed same-sex marriage should be legal. 51% of 18-24 year-olds and 62% of 25-34 year-olds agreeed same-sex marriage should be legal with older age groups being more opposed.
Source: ICM/Channel 4 | Related: Muslim support for theocracy, not terrorism, is the real threat to confront (2016) - Nearly half of all British Muslims think gay teachers shouldn't educate their children
Source: ICM/Channel 4 | Related: Muslim support for theocracy, not terrorism, is the real threat to confront (2016) - There are at least 50,000 (perhaps in excess of 200,000) people living in Great Britain who are classified as "low caste". There is significant evidence that they face caste-based discrimination, harassment and bullying in employment, education and in the provision of services, including care.
Source: Government Equalities Office | Related: Caste Discrimination Briefing
Healthcare
Assisted dying
- 59% of Christians support the legalisation of assisted suicide in the case of terminally ill adult patients where certain safeguards are in place, with 21% opposing it.
Source: Ipsos MORI - 72% of Anglicans think people with incurable diseases should have the right to ask close friends or relatives to help them commit suicide, without fear of risking prosecution. Despite this, the Church of England has made clear its opposition to any change in the law, or medical practice, to make assisted suicide permissible or acceptable.
Source: YouGov/Westminster Faith Debate| Related news: New campaign urges party leaders to support change in the law on assisted dying (2014) - 56% of Catholics also support a change in the law regarding assisted dying despite Roman Catholic leaders being particularly vocal against this.
Source: YouGov/Westminster Faith Debate | Related news: New campaign urges party leaders to support change in the law on assisted dying (2014) - 73% of adults in England and Wales supported the proposals in the Assisted Dying Bill (2014), which would have reduced unnecessary suffering of terminally ill people at the end of their lives. Many religious groups opposed the bill.
Source: YouGov/Dignity in Dying | Related news: Dignity in Dying demonstration on Friday 7 November in support of the Assisted Dying Bill (2014)
Circumcision
- 62% of people in the UK said they would support a law prohibiting the circumcision of children for non-medical reasons. Only 13% would oppose it.
Source: YouGov | Related: NSS says UK should follow Iceland's lead to end genital cutting (2018)
Chaplaincy
- Religious chaplaincy costs NHS £23.5 million a year – the equivalent cost of employing 1,000 new nurses.
Source: The Independent| Related news: Religious chaplaincy costs NHS £23.5 million a year (2015) - Several NHS Trusts pay full-time chaplains from £30,764 to £40,558; part-time chaplains are paid between £25,783 and £34,530.
Source: The Independent| Related news: Religious chaplaincy costs NHS £23.5 million a year (2015) - Four in ten Christians oppose the costs of hospital chaplains being met from NHS budgets rather than by the chaplain's religious organisation, with a third happy for the NHS to pay.
Source: Ipsos MORI - Data provided by hospitals reveals no demonstrable clinical benefit from hospital trusts spending proportionately far more on chaplaincy services than those that do not.
Source: NSS
Reproductive rights
- The percentage of the population who would like to see a ban on abortion has fallen from 12% in 2005 to 7% in 2013. Of those who identify with a religion, 9% support a ban on abortion.
Source: YouGov/Westminster Faith Debates| Related news: New evidence that churches are completely out of step with society (2013) - 62% of people are in favour of supporting an adult woman's right to have an abortion. 20% are against.
Source: Ipsos MORI - Only 11% of British Catholics agree with the Church that abortion is solely permitted as an indirect consequence of life-saving treatment.
Source: ComRes/BBC survey - 30% of British Catholics believe that abortion should always be allowed, while just 6% are opposed to it under all circumstances.
Source: ComRes/BBC survey - 85% of Catholics reject the Catholic Church's prohibition on contraception.
Source: ACTA| Related news: Huge gulf between Catholics and Church leaders over social issues, survey finds (2015)
Other
Religious non-stun slaughter
- 77% of the British public want non-stun slaughter to end.
Source: Parliament | Related news: MPs cite "overwhelming" public support in debate on non-stun animal slaughter (2015) - In 2013, 15% of sheep and goats were not pre-stunned before slaughter, but this rose to almost a quarter (24.4%) of all slaughters between April and June in 2017
Source: Food Standards Agency | Related news: NSS seeks end to religious exemption amid sharp rise in non-stun slaughter (2017) - 45% of EU nationals are in favour of different labelling on meat from animals that were not pre-stunned. Just 23% think similar labelling should be used on meat from stunned and non-stunned animals.
Source: European Commission | Related news: EU survey reveals clear support for labelling of meat from non-stunned animals - 72% of people in the EU said they would be interested in "receiving information on the stunning of animals at slaughter when they buy meat."
Source: European Commission | Related news: EU survey reveals clear support for labelling of meat from non-stunned animals
Public services & employment
- 55% of people have little or no confidence in Church groups running "Crucial social provisions such as education". Only 6% have a lot of confidence.
Source: YouGov / Oasis UK | Related news: Faith in public services? - 65% have no confidence in Church groups running "Crucial social provisions such as healthcare" with only 2% of people expressing a lot of confidence.
Source: YouGov / Oasis UK | Related news: Faith in public services? - When asked "Whether a bank should, or should not, be able to insist an employee removes religious dress or symbol at work" a majority of Scots were in favour of allowing an employer to ask for an employee to remove a full Islamic face veil. 34% said they should definitely have the right to insist on this, and a further 31% said an employer should "probably" have the right to ask an employee to remove a face veil.
Source: Scottish Social Attitudes Survey| Related news: New survey reveals Scots' attitudes to religious symbols at work (2016)
Clerical child abuse
- The Church of England handled more than 3,000 safeguarding concerns or allegations of abuse in 2016.
Source: General Synod | Related: CoE faced 3,300 safeguarding concerns or abuse allegations in 2016 (2018)
Secularism around the world
- Countries that have an official state religion "are more likely to place a high level of government restrictions on other religious groups".
Source: Pew Research Center| Related: Restrictions on religion higher in countries with official religions - report - 98% of these countries with a state religion provide funding or resources for educational resources, religious property or other religious activities. In 86% of these countries, the funding or resources specifically for religious education programmes or religious schools disproportionately benefits the official religion. This includes the UK, where the Church of England benefits in the fields of religious education and religious property.
Source: Pew Research Center| Related: Restrictions on religion higher in countries with official religions - report - More than four in ten of the world's countries severely discriminate against non-religious individuals.
Source: IHEU | Related: Secularism 'regressing on a global scale', says report (2017) - In 22 countries laws punish those who change their religion; 12 of these issue the death penalty.
Source: IHEU | Related: Secularism 'regressing on a global scale', says report (2017)
