Faith schools: the evidence
Over a third of schools in Britain are faith schools, yet their place within public education systems remains deeply contested.
Proponents of faith schools claim that they improve parental choice, achieve superior educational outcomes, and are better at promoting moral values. The evidence from the research strongly contests these claims.
Such research is often piecemeal and difficult to access, making it hard to gain a comprehensive view of the debate. This research bank is intended as a valuable resource for policymakers, politicians, academics and anyone else interested in the ongoing debate around faith schools in Britain.
Each entry provides an at-a-glance overview of the key evidence and central arguments made in a different study. The research bank is arranged chronologically within a number of key sections: social cohesion; performance; school choice; values; and public opinion.
Together, the evidence provides a compelling and comprehensive case against state-funded faith schools.
Social cohesion
The evidence in this section shows that faith schools undermine social cohesion by segregating pupils on religious, ethnic, racial and social grounds. By reducing contact between people from different social groups, faith schools foster exclusionary in-group dynamics that are detrimental to the wellbeing of a liberal, multicultural society. This evidence strongly undermines claims by supporters that faith schools facilitate social integration, promote a communal religious ethos and help to integrate minority faiths into the life of the nation.
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Influence of segregation versus mixing
Intergroup contact and attitudes among White-British and Asian-British students in high schools in Oldham, England, M. Hewstone et al. (2018), Theory and Research in Education, 16(2): 179–203.
This paper reports on three longitudinal studies into the extent, quality and consequences of intergroup contact between young Asian-British and white-British secondary school students in Oldham. It highlights the fact that schools are a particularly important setting for mixing between ethnic, religious and other social groups, and provides robust support for the 'contact hypothesis' – the idea that 'positive face-to-face contact between members of different groups, rather than mere coexistence, helps to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations'. The study shows that mixing promotes intergroup contact and improves attitudes and trust towards the outgroup. While the study does not overtly examine the 'relative merits or demerits of faith schools per se', the authors note that faith schools, 'when highly segregated, deprive young people of valuable opportunities to mix with ethnic counterparts in a safe, cooperative setting, and thus appear likely to impede social cohesion and prevent young people from developing more positive attitudes towards members of ethnic and religious outgroups'. The authors note that their findings 'suggest that faith schools, to the extent that they involve high levels of segregation, are a barrier to integration, even if they might achieve other positive goals for their students from religious and ethnic minorities'.
A PDF copy of this paper is also available through ResearchGate. Click here to access.
Integrating Northern Ireland: Cross-group friendships in integrated and mixed schools
D. Blayloc et al. (2018), British Educational Research Journal, 44(4), 643–662.
This study focused on Northern Ireland, where more than 92% of pupils attend schools that are divided on religious lines, and compared pupils attending religious and integrated schools. The study found that for 'in school' interactions and friendships, pupils attending a school with a strong religious (in this case Catholic) ethos had a greater tendency for same-group friendships than pupils attending integrated schools, who instead showed a greater tendency towards cross-group interactions.
A PDF copy of this paper is available from the institutional repository at the University of Oxford. Click here to access.
Attitudes towards faith-based schooling amongst Roman Catholics in Britain
B. Clements (2018), British Journal of Religious Education, 40(1): 44–54.
This paper analyses Roman Catholic attitudes towards publicly funded faith schools. It notes that Roman Catholics have tended to be more supportive of faith schools than other Christian groups (including Anglicans), and that Catholics with higher levels of religiosity show a greater propensity to express support. Using a nationally representative survey of adult Catholics in Britain, the paper shows that Catholic support for faith schools is strongest for Roman Catholic and Anglican schools (with 67.8% and 66.7% in favour respectively), supporting claims that faith schools foster in-group sensibilities. Roman Catholic support for faith schools declines for other faiths (being lowest for Muslim schools), with broadly similar levels of support being shown for publicly funded faith schools for other Christian groups (55%) and faith schools in general (57.4%).
Religious schools, civic education, and public policy: A framework for evaluation and decision
I. MacMullen (2018), Theory and Research in Education 16(2): 141–161.
This paper addresses claims that faith schools are poorly suited to prepare children for citizenship in a multi-faith, liberal democratic society, which depends on the ability to make rational, well-informed decisions and to respect others outside one's own social group. Highlighting the diversity within the faith-based sector, it notes that not all faith schools are equally religious and cautions against public policy decisions on regulations and funding that fail to take this diversity into account. Although the paper is supportive of faith schooling in certain contexts, the author claims that acceptable faith schools are those that are weakly religious and argues that 'strongly religious' schools are 'very poor instruments of civic education'.
The Ties that Bind: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in the 21st Century
House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement (April 2018), Report of Session 2017–19, HL Paper 118.
This report by the House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement examined a wide range of issues on the theme of citizenship, from national citizenship service, volunteering, democratic participation and civil society. In respect of faith schools, the report found that a majority were adhering to, and promoting, fundamental British values, but expressed concerns about a small number in which there had been 'a serious failure to act in accordance with Shared British Values'. The report also noted its unease with proposals to lift the 50% cap on the allocation of school places according to a religious criterion, stating that: 'There are concerns that this could cause greater social segregation within faith schools'. The report went on to state that: 'Any change in the rules governing admissions criteria to faith schools should ensure that they do not increase social segregation'.
Is tolerance of faiths helpful in English school policy? Reification, complexity, and values education
R. Bowie (2017), Oxford Review of Education 43(5): 536–549.
This article discusses a range of issues around the tolerance of faiths in a democratic society. This issue has become more pressing with government requirements for schools to teach and promote British values, of which tolerance is a critical part. The author highlights the way in which government often shifts the burden of translating tolerance policy onto teachers and school leaders, using the threat of inspections and sanctions, and claims that this leads to a simplification of complex issues (tolerance of faith may be seen as a virtue but can also be seen as a means of sustaining inequalities in areas such as gender identity).
Although the article does not address the subject of faith schools directly, the author nevertheless engages with one of the central themes of the faith schools debate, pointing out that: 'While tolerance of religion is necessary in plural liberal democracies, emphasising religion contributes to a reification that religion is the determining identity criteria of concern which may have the unintended consequence of polarising interests and communities'.
A copy of this article is available as a Word document from the repository at the University of Canterbury. Click here to access.
Understanding school segregation in England, 2011 to 2016
iCoCo Foundation, SchoolDash and The Challenge (2017).
This study, which was carried out by the iCoCo Foundation, SchoolDash and The Challenge, draws on the 2016 school census and covers nearly every school in England for which data were available (excluding independent and unregistered schools). The study set out to explore the reasons behind school segregation, to assess whether schools were segregated by socio-economic status and ethnicity and the extent and nature of these trends from 2011 to 2016. The study examined trends in a variety of school types and according to local authority area.
The study finds that faith schools at primary level are more ethnically segregated than non-faith schools, with 28.8% of faith schools being classified in this way compared to 24.5% of non-faith schools. This discrepancy was particularly pronounced for Roman Catholic schools, of which 26.7% have a low proportion of white British students, compared with 9.1% of non-faith schools and 9.9% of all schools. Non-Christian faith schools (though small in number) fared even worse, with 84.5% being segregated. The report found a similar picture at secondary level. Schools of non-Christian faiths were more likely to under-sample white British students, with 64.5% of these schools falling into this category, compared to an average for all schools of 13.4%.
Similar discrepancies were found for intakes of disadvantaged pupils. Just 4.4% of faith schools at primary level were found to have a high intake of pupils eligible for free school meals compared with nearby schools, versus 11.4% for non-faith schools. This was particularly pronounced for Roman Catholic schools (of which 38.3% had a low intake of eligible pupils compared to 17.1% of non-faith schools) and non-Christian faith schools (of which 63.8% had a low intake and none at all had an intake with significantly higher numbers). A similar relationship was found at secondary level. A total of 23.8% of Roman Catholic schools had a low intake of pupils eligible for free school meals, compared with 17.2% of non-faith schools. A total of 43.8% of schools of non-Christian faiths had a low intake, with none having a high intake compared to other schools around them.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download. Click here to access.
Mixed Signals:
The Discrepancy Between What the Church Preaches and What it Practises About Religious Selection at its State-Funded Schools. A report by the Accord Coalition for Inclusive Education for the Fair Admissions Campaign (November 2017).
This report examines the admissions policies of state-funded faith schools. It shows that half of Church of England faith schools were operating a discriminatory policy and challenges the view, often stated by the Church of England, that its faith schools are inclusive, community schools. The report notes that: 'at best, the inclusive assertions by national Church figures are inaccurate and therefore misleading'. Detailed research by the Fair Admissions Campaign in 2013 found that 49.7% of places at Church of England secondary schools could be filled through religiously discriminatory selection criteria. The figure for Catholic schools was 99.8%.
The report goes to show how religious selection leads to social segregation on religious, ethnic and socio-economic grounds. Using the 2013 figures, it shows that Church of England secondary schools with an admissions policy selecting for 100% of pupils on a faith criteria admitted 34.6% fewer pupils who were entitled to free schools meals than would be expected if they admitted local children. On the theme of social cohesion, it goes on to claim that:
Schools are the state-funded institutions that should be doing most to prepare people for life in an increasingly diverse society … schools should not purposely separate children from one another by religion. Schools should not help entrench and create fault-lines for a Britain that already needs to work at social cohesion and does not need extra religious tensions added to existing ones.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download. Click here to access.
Segregation in education
T. Hannay (22 March, 2017), SchoolDash.
This blog post for SchoolDash examines issues of ethnic and socio-economic segregation in schools, drawing on data published in a report by the iCoCo Foundation, SchoolDash and The Challenge. A number of factors behind segregation are identified, including house prices and academic selection. Faith schools were found to be a particular site of segregation. The data show that, overall, faith schools have higher levels of ethnic and socio-economic segregation than non-faith schools.
A school was said to be ethnically segregated 'if the proportion of White British pupils is more than 15 percentage points higher or lower than that in other nearby schools'. Breaking these data down for ethnicity shows that Church of England schools had similar levels of segregation to non-faith schools at primary school level, but Roman Catholic schools had higher levels of segregation and a 'substantial bias towards non-White-British pupils' at both primary and secondary school levels. The highest levels of ethnic segregation were found in non-Christian faith schools. The figures below report these findings, by 'low' and 'high' proportions of white British pupils in comparison to other schools in the local area.
Ethnic segregation in primary schools
Low High
Church of England 5.5% 18.3%
Roman Catholic 26.7% 13.9%
Other Christian 5.7% 18.9%
Non-Faith 9.1% 15.4%
All schools 9.9% 16.1%
Ethnic segregation in secondary schools
Low High
Church of England 14.6% 28.8%
Roman Catholic 25.4% 18.5%
Other Christian 14.7% 14.7%
Non-Faith 11.2% 28.4%
All schools 13.4% 27.2%
Faith schools were also found to fare worse in terms of intakes of disadvantaged pupils (as measured by their eligibility for free school meals). The highest discrepancies at primary level were found in Roman Catholic and non-Christian faith schools (both of which took a lower proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals than non-faith schools). The highest discrepancies at secondary level were found in Church of England and non-Christian faith schools. The data for free school meals are shown below, reported by comparatively 'low' and 'high' intakes in relation to neighbouring schools.
Socio-economic segregation in primary schools
Low High
Church of England 22.7% 5.1%
Roman Catholic 38.3% 2.3%
Other Christian 19.6% 8.4%
Non-Faith 17.1% 11.4%
All schools 20.8% 8.8%
Socio-economic segregation in secondary schools
Low High
Church of England 27.4% 9.9%
Roman Catholic 23.8% 3.1%
Other Christian 22.7% 14.7%
Non-Faith 17.2% 9.3%
All schools 18.8% 8.8%
Research into Religiously Selective Admissions Criteria
Fair Admissions Campaign (2017).
This report provides a review of existing studies on the debate around faith schools and outlines research conducted by the Fair Admissions Campaign. This research found clear evidence of socio-economic and ethnic segregation. An analysis of comprehensive secondary schools found that schools without a religious character admitted 11% more pupils who were eligible for free school meals than the proportion of such pupils in their local area. In contrast, Church of England schools admitted 10% fewer, Roman Catholic schools admitted 24% fewer, Jewish secondaries 61% fewer and Muslim secondaries 25% fewer. On average, faith schools whose admissions criteria allowed for religious selection for all places admitted 27% fewer pupils from this category than would be expected if such schools were a true reflection of their local area.
In addition to this, research conducted in 2013 found that Church of England secondaries that did not select on the basis of religion took an average of 0.7% more pupils from Asian backgrounds than their local areas. In contrast, church schools that used selection for 100% of their places took an average of 1.5% fewer. Roman Catholic schools had an average of 4.4% fewer Asian pupils than would be expected given their local areas. Schools with no religious character had an average of around 1% more Asian pupils than would be expected.
A PDF copy of this report is available to download. Click here to access.
