We want to see laws requiring schools to hold acts of worship abolished.
The laws are archaic, unnecessary and breach children's freedom of religion or belief.
The United Kingdom is the only Western democracy which legally imposes worship in publicly funded schools.
The law in England and Wales provides that children at all maintained schools "shall on each school day take part in an act of collective worship". Northern Ireland and Scotland have similar laws.
Even in schools with no religious designation, the worship must be "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
School assemblies are an important feature of school life. They foster a sense of community in schools and promote the moral and social development of pupils.But acts of worship are neither necessary nor desirable to achieve these educational goals.
The majority of the public (52%) say school assemblies should be about moral issues, whereas just 26% agree that they should feature religious worship.
Many schools ignore the law, but where it is enforced it causes division and discrimination, as well as opening the door to evangelism and proselytising.
Parents have the right to withdraw children from collective worship, but many this is an unreasonable imposition on both themselves and their children. Parents should never have to withdraw their children from any part of the school day to ensure their rights to raise their child according to their own religious or philosophical convictions are respected.
Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and increasingly, no religious beliefs. The abolition of collective worship is long overdue.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask them to help end compulsory worship in schools
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
Peers back bill to end compulsory worship in non-faith schools
Posted: Fri, 10 Sep 2021 15:25
A majority of peers have supported a bill to end the duty on non-faith schools in England to hold daily acts of Christian worship, and instead require them to hold inclusive assemblies.
A private member's bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat peer Lorely Burt (pictured), was subject to a debate in the Lords on Friday. The bill will now proceed to committee stage.
The National Secular Society has welcomed the bill as a significant step in the right direction. The NSS briefed peers ahead of the debate.
Schools in England and Wales are legally required to hold daily acts of collective worship which are "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
Under Baroness Burt's bill:
- Schools would not be required to organise compulsory acts of religious observance, but pupils would be permitted to opt in to voluntary acts of worship if they wish.
- Schools which are not religious in character would be required to provide assemblies that develop the "spiritual, moral, social and cultural education" of pupils regardless of religion or belief.
Faith schools would still be able to hold collective worship, but would be required to provide a meaningful alternative for pupils withdrawn.
The case for change
Arguing for the bill in the Lords, Burt described it as "an opportunity to help all children, regardless of their background, to feel included and welcomed in the community of their school".
She added that British society had become more "diverse" and "multicultural" in recent decades.
"We put more store on children and their rights - except in the UK, and except in this matter of compulsory religious worship."
She also highlighted negative experiences of compulsory worship which are reported through the NSS website.
Government response
The government is opposing the bill, which makes it unlikely to become law.
Responding to the bill on its behalf today, Carlyn Chisholm insisted that legislation around collective worship is "inclusive" and "allows all schools to tailor their provision to suit their pupils' spiritual needs".
But she added that the government "stands by" a policy of not allowing schools to replace worship with non-religious assemblies.
Peers supporting reform
Peers who supported the bill included Labour's Alf Dubs, who argued that shared moral standards don't need "a Christian backing".
Molly Meacher, a crossbencher, warned that if shared values were conveyed "within a religious narrative" there was "an extremely high risk" that children would "disregard" them.
Crossbench peer Elaine Murphy said compulsory worship was "inappropriate" and called the government's failure to get to grips with this situation "disgraceful".
Natalie Bennett, the former leader of the Green party, said laws requiring religious worship in schools "weakened our position as an advocate for children's rights around the world".
Burt also highlighted a "diversity of views among Christians" and a former bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, spoke in favour of the bill, arguing that the legal situation "doesn't reflect who we are as a society".
The current bishop of Oxford spoke in opposition from the bench of Church of England bishops, arguing that the current arrangement "works well".
NSS comment
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said the debate "raised many important issues that need to be addressed".
"Mandating worship by law in schools is archaic, inappropriate and wholly incompatible with freedom of religion or belief.
"Ministers should stop trying to justify the unjustifiable and instead fulfil their duty under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by repealing this ridiculous requirement.
"No child should be compelled to worship in school, and no school should be compelled to hold acts of worship."
The NSS wrote to peers ahead of the debate to make similar points, and noted that many families have little choice but a faith school.
Law widely ignored
The current law has long been widely ignored, with the de facto acceptance of the Department for Education and Ofsted inspectors, and evidence suggests it is unpopular. Many schools hold inclusive assemblies with no directed religious worship.
But the government recently said it would "investigate" schools which breached the law requiring worship in schools.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recently asked the UK what steps it was taking to repeal laws requiring worship in schools.
Schools mustn’t replace worship with secular assemblies, insists minister
Posted: Fri, 20 Aug 2021 10:44
A government minister has said schools are not permitted to replace their legal duty to provide religious worship with non-religious assemblies, leading to criticism from the National Secular Society.
In a letter to the National Secular Society, education minister Elizabeth Berridge said it was "not permissible for a school to apply simply to replace Christian or other religious collective worship with a non-religious assembly".
The letter also said that if the government was made aware that schools weren't meeting the duty to hold worship, it would "deal with it on a case by case basis".
Current legal situation
Schools in England and Wales are legally required to hold daily acts of collective worship which are "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
And the most recent government guidance on collective worship, issued in 1994, says worship in schools "should be concerned with reverence or veneration paid to a divine being or power".
Many schools currently ignore the law and this has long been de facto accepted by both the Department for Education and Ofsted.
NSS's previous letter to DfE
Berridge's letter was a response to correspondence from the NSS earlier this year.
The NSS wrote to the Department for Education after schools minister Nick Gibb suggested the government would "investigate" schools which breached the law on collective worship.
Gibb also said that, "where needed", the department would "remind" schools of their duty and "advise on how this can be met".
The NSS's letter urged the government to repeal the law requiring worship.
It also asked what the government had done to "remind schools of their duty" and if there were any plans to withdraw or update the most recent government guidance on collective worship before any changes in enforcement.
The response said the DfE had "no plans to amend or repeal" schools' legal duty to provide worship, or to "make any changes in enforcement".
NSS comment
National Secular Society head of education Alastair Lichten said: "It's preposterous for the DfE to insist schools must incorporate religious worship into their assemblies.
"Its attempts to do so illustrate the need for legal change. Laws requiring worship in schools should be repealed and replaced with a duty to hold inclusive assemblies.
"In many schools this hopelessly anachronistic obligation simply can't be enforced, even if ministers try to pretend that isn't the case. Where it is enforced, it undermines children's freedom to form their own beliefs and is discriminatory.
"No child should be compelled to worship in school and no school should be compelled to hold acts of worship."
Upcoming bill on collective worship
Liberal Democrat peer Lorely Burt recently proposed a private member's bill which would repeal the requirement for schools in England without a designated religious character to provide daily acts of collective religious worship.
The bill is due to be given a second reading in the House of Lords next month.
Relevant polling data
Polling data suggests the collective worship law is unpopular and widely ignored:
- In 2019 polling from Teacher Tapp found that only 43% of non-faith primary schools have some activity which they call collective worship.
- In 2018 a poll commissioned by the NSS found that just 26% of British adults thought assemblies should feature religious worship.
- In 2019 a poll by YouGov for Humanists UK found that only 29% of parents of school-aged children thought religious worship was appropriate in assemblies.
- The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recently asked the UK what steps it was taking to repeal laws requiring worship in schools.
Image: Christin Lola/Shutterstock.com.
