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.
Polling has found 70% of senior teachers "disagree" or "strongly disagree" with the law mandating worship, and 66% of teachers say their school does not even hold collective worship.
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Collective worship laws are outdated relics of a society unrecognisable from the diverse and pluralistic Britain of today, where citizens hold a wide variety of religious beliefs, and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
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.
Religious privilege causing injustice, NSS tells Law Commission
Posted: Wed, 4 Aug 2021 14:23
The National Secular Society has argued that religious privilege creates inconsistencies and unfairness in laws on education, charity, health and animal welfare in response to a consultation.
The NSS has submitted evidence on these issues to the Law Commission, which has sought views on what should be included in its latest programme of recommended legal reforms.
The commission is a statutory independent body that keeps the law of England and Wales under review and recommends reform where it judges that it's needed.
NSS recommendations
The NSS said the commission should consider:
- Laws requiring collective worship in schools.
- The provision in charity law which makes 'the advancement of religion' a charitable purpose in its own right.
- The lack of effective protection for boys in laws on genital cutting.
- The religious exemption to animal welfare laws that allows non-stun slaughter.
- Assisted dying law.
Law on collective worship
Sections 70 and 71 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 require that all state-funded schools in England and Wales "shall on each school day take part in an act of collective worship".
Even in schools with no religious designation, the worship must be "wholly or mainly of a Christian character".
The NSS's submission said this law was incompatible with human rights laws and the principle of equality, and opened the door to inappropriate external evangelism in schools.
Charity law
In laws on charity throughout the UK, 'the advancement of religion' is a recognised charitable purpose in its own right.
The NSS's submission said removing this would ensure greater fairness and mitigate the damage that harmful religious organisations cause.
The NSS made the case for removing 'the advancement of religion' as a charitable purpose in a report, For the Public Benefit?, published in 2019.
Religious organisations would still be able to register for charitable status under another recognised charitable purpose, as many already do.
Genital cutting
The NSS's submission called on the commission to consider the disparity between the protections afforded to boys and girls regarding autonomy over their genitals.
It noted that boys are not given explicit protection from non-consensual, medically unnecessary circumcision or other modifications to their genitals.
It said this was incompatible with human rights law and left many at risk of serious harm.
Animal welfare
The society highlighted the religious exemption from animal welfare laws that allows animals to be slaughtered without stunning according to Jewish and Muslim rites.
There is widespread consensus among veterinary and animal welfare groups that it's more humane to stun an animal before slaughter than not to do so.
The NSS argues for the repeal of the religious exemption, and for the labelling of meat from animals subject to non-stun slaughter while the exemption remains in place.
Assisted dying law
The NSS also called on the commission to draft a legal framework for assisted dying, to guide potential legislation.
The society said a disproportionate level of influence is granted to religious groups in debates on assisted dying, and argued that the views of the general public, professionals and relevant organisations should be fairly reflected at policy level.
It said a framework could help to guide the government into formulating compassionate and safe legislation to allow for assisted dying under certain circumstances.
NSS comment
NSS head of policy and research Megan Manson said: "Our reforms identify several significant ways in which religious privilege within the law causes inequality, injustice and harm.
"Deference to religion has helped to create outdated, unfair and often unnecessarily complex laws in these areas. We hope the Law Commission will consider our recommendations as it outlines its next programme for reform."
About the Law Commission's review
- The Law Commission undertakes a public consultation every few years, with a view to submitting a draft programme of law reform to the lord chancellor.
- This is the commission's 14th programme of reform. The 13th was submitted in late 2017.
Image: Jarretera / Shutterstock.com.
