Supporter comments

Selecting students based on the religion of their parents is quite plainly discrimination, totally at odds with British values.

I wish to give my child a secular education where all religions are studied equally without bias. The only school within 5 miles of the home I will soon be moving to is church of England. This doesn't give me or my child an equal footing. The only fair way to do schooling in a country where less than 50% of under 40s described themselves as religious is to have a secular school system.

There is a places shortage in our town and our two closest secondary schools fill their places with children from as far as an hour away, whilst children, whose parents don't attend church, have nowhere to go. This outrageous religious discrimination wouldn’t be allowed in any other sector of our society.

Discrimination on the grounds of religious belief is wrong. No taxpayer funded school should be allowed to discriminate on grounds of religious belief.

Basing education selection on religious beliefs has no place in modern society and is at odds with diversity and inclusivity.

My daughter has been refused a place at a Catholic school at the end of the road. The school was oversubscribed with new families from further away. My daughter has always believed that she will be at school with her brother and her brother cannot understand why she cannot based on faith.

Religious discrimination through special exemptions from equality law is clearly an injustice, which only enforces divisions in our society. Our education system should be fully inclusive and free from religious interference. Our current education system is reinforcing the religious divisions in our communities.

As a person of no faith, I’m so alarmed at the rise of discrimination in school admissions based on faith. It creates an ‘us and them’ mentality at such a young age, like all religion imposed on kids who know no better and can’t make an informed decision. It deepens segregation. It promotes duplicity in some parents’ behaviour if they are prepared to pretend to belong to a church just to get their kid into a great school. This is the 21st century! Wake up to the need for inclusiveness, tolerance, and no prejudice. Stop pandering to the few who want to promote their faith at all costs shunning the rest and think about the values of this country as a whole.