No more faith schools

No more faith schools

We need inclusive schools free from religious discrimination, privilege or control.

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.

  • 58% of Brits oppose faith schools and only 30% say they have "no objection" to faith schools being funded by the state.

  • 72% of voters, including 68% of Christians, oppose state funded schools being allowed to discriminate against prospective pupils on religious grounds in their admissions policy.

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!

CAMPAIGN ALERT: Tell Labour to think again on faith schools

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer recently stated he "wouldn't tinker" with how faith schools are run, and that Labour would be "even more supportive of faith schools" than the current government.

Join us in calling on Labour to think again on faith schools. Write to your Labour MP or representative today.

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

Don’t merge secular school into faith school, NSS urges council

Don’t merge secular school into faith school, NSS urges council

Posted: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:19

The National Secular Society has urged Southwark Council to reject plans to merge a nonreligious school into a faith school to create a single Church of England (CofE) school.

The proposals would merge Charlotte Sharman Primary School, which has no religious character, with St Jude's Church of England Primary School. The resulting school would have a Church of England religious character.

The plans follow falling pupil numbers at both schools, although Charlotte Sharman is the larger of the two schools and has more places filled.

In a letter to cabinet member for children, education and refugees Councillor Jasmine Ali, the NSS said the merger would "significantly diminish parent's choice" to educate their child in an inclusive community school.

Charlotte Sharman is the only nonreligious school in the St George's ward of the London borough Southwark. The letter pointed to the duty of local authorities to secure diversity in the provision of schools under the Education Act 1996.

It said the local community would be "ill served" by a new CofE school which can legally discriminate on the basis of religion in its admissions and hiring.

The letter cited St Jude's collective worship policy which requires children to pray twice a day.

The NSS noted the CofE is "strongly motivated" to support the merger as part of its plan to double the number of young "Christian disciples" by 2030.

The letter also raised "serious concerns" about consultation documents provided on the merger. It said they omitted "vital information" about the nature of faith schools that would leave parents and teachers "unable to make an informed choice".

The documents make no mention of faith-based admissions and hiring, legally mandated collective worship or faith-based religious education.

The NSS said the documents make "no attempt" to justify why the resulting school should be CofE and instead issue a "summary judgement". It said the decision was "especially perplexing" given both schools are minority Christian. Furthermore, St Jude's has filled only 39% of its places compared to Charlotte Sharman's 78%.

The letter urged Ali to "preserve the secular ethos" of Charlotte Sharman or any new school resulting from a merger.

A petition set up by Southwark National Education Union to defend the secular ethos of Charlotte Sharman has attracted over 700 signatures. It notes Charlotte Sharman "serves the diverse community" of Elephant and Castle and is "an inclusive, community school" without any emphasis on any particular religious belief.

NSS: 'Council must serve needs of children and families not agenda of the Church'

National Secular Society chief executive Stephen Evans said: "Any proposal that strips a religiously diverse community of an inclusive secular school and forces children into a Church of England school defies logic and fails to respect the principle of freedom of religion or belief. Southwark Council must ensure it is first and foremost serving the needs of local children and their families – not the agenda of the Church.

"In a pluralistic and increasingly secular society, there should be a presumption towards religiously neutral schools to ensure students from all backgrounds can feel equally welcome and valued and not have other people's religion imposed on them."

Kyle Glenn, Unsplash

Faith school banning parts of geography lessons, Ofsted finds

Posted: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 12:33

Ofsted finds faith school prohibiting parts of lessons it judges incompatible with its religious beliefs.

More information

Research and reports