Thousands of children are languishing in unregistered faith schools.
These schools prioritise fundamentalist religion over the education and welfare of children.
The scandal of unregistered schools must be addressed.
Some religious institutions operate schools which are not registered with the Department for Education, despite this being a legal requirement.
Schools are left unregistered to avoid regulations and inspections, so they can teach a very narrow, religion-based curriculum without oversight. This severely limits children's future options, as children leave these schools with very poor literacy, no formal qualifications and no skills or experience for life in modern Britain.
The lack of scrutiny also presents major safeguarding concerns. Children have been taught in unsafe conditions and subjected to physical punishment in these schools. The curriculum may also teach extremist, regressive and discriminatory dogma.
In 2019, Ofsted estimated as many as 6,000 children were being educated in unregistered settings. But the number could be even higher. Approximately 86,300 children and young people were electively home educated nationally during the year 2019/20. There is little regulation of home education, so many of these children could in fact be attending an unregistered school.
Some unregistered schools exploit loopholes in the law to avoid registration and operate at the margins of the law as an "out of school educational setting". Although many out of school settings, including tuition centres and supplementary schools, provide an excellence service, a minority put children's welfare at risk.
We are working to end the harms caused by unregistered schools by campaigning for greater powers for Ofsted tackle these settings, the elimination of loopholes to force more schools to register, and improved regulation of elective home education.
Take action!
1. Suspect an unregistered school? Report it!
Unregistered schools are illegal and pose a serious threat to children's wellbeing. If you think you know of a possible unregistered school, please report it to the schools inspectorate Ofsted.
If you are aware of children in imminent danger, please call 999 and inform the police.
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
Over 100 new unregistered school investigations opened this year
Posted: Tue, 13 Dec 2022 15:01
Ofsted opened over 100 new investigations into unregistered schools, many of them faith schools, in the last 12 months.
In its annual report published today, Ofsted said approximately a fifth of the unregistered schools it inspected show evidence of having a faith ethos. Most offered a "poor standard of education, where children are restricted to an extremely narrow curriculum", often not learning basic skills such as English and mathematics.
The report also noted that children at unregistered schools were sometimes exposed to "misogynistic, homophobic, and extremist materials that are contrary to British values".
Unregistered schools are illegal and those who run them are committing a criminal offence. The National Secular Society has long warned of the use of unregistered schools by religious groups to evade scrutiny of their activities so they can prioritise fundamentalist religious ideology over the education and welfare needs of children.
Yet despite the large number of new investigations and the additional 120 inspections which were carried out in previously inspected unregistered schools, just 19 warning notices were issued with only a single prosecution.
Since being established in 2016, Ofsted's unregistered schools team said it has carried out 960 investigations into potentially illegal schools across England. During the same period, it has repeatedly raised concerns with the government about the scale of unregistered schooling.
It said many unregistered schools "remain on the cusp of the law by exploiting loopholes". Eighty-one unregistered schools investigated by Ofsted changed their service to comply with the law by reducing their hours of operation or the number of children attending. Only 16 registered as schools.
Citing its "limited powers", Ofsted noted it has only been able to bring six successful prosecutions against unregistered schools since 2016. It welcomed provisions which would have expanded its powers to investigate illegal schools in the 2022 Schools Bill. But the government confirmed last week it has scrapped this bill.
Ofsted's report also highlighted that registered independent faith schools "have worse inspection outcomes than non-faith independent schools". This is partly due to some schools limiting the curriculum in areas they "consider to conflict directly with their religion" and serving communities "that want children's education to prepare them only for life within that community". Six of the 11 warning notices to independent schools published this year were sent to faith schools.
NSS: 'New powers for Ofsted urgently needed"
NSS campaigns officer Jack Rivington said: "Ofsted's annual report demonstrates why it requires new powers to tackle unregistered schools as a matter of urgency.
"The use of unregistered schools by fundamentalist religious groups to avoid teaching anything contrary to their regressive worldviews is well documented.
"By failing to address Ofsted's impotent state, the government is betraying the thousands of children currently exposed to harmful practices and ideologies in unregistered schools.
"With its abandonment of the Schools Bill, the government must therefore set out provisions for how the concerns highlighted by Ofsted's report will be addressed."
NSS tells government not to halt plans to stop unregistered schools
Posted: Fri, 23 Sep 2022 11:03
The National Secular Society has urged the education secretary not to abandon plans to stop children being denied a secular education in unregistered schools.
The government's flagship Schools Bill is reportedly "under review" following the cancellation of its third reading in the House of Lords, which had been due to take place earlier this month.
Concerns regarding the bill's progress had been raised following the delay, as well as by a leaked letter apparently sent by a peer to Charedi Jewish community activist Asher Gratt, which claimed it had been "scrapped".
The NSS has long warned of the use of unregistered schools by religious groups to evade scrutiny of their activities. The educational provision at such schools is frequently limited to exclusively religious studies, which both deprives children of a full education and fails to prepare them for life in wider society.
In a letter to Kit Malthouse MP, the Secretary of State for Education, NSS chief executive Stephen Evans sought assurance that the government would not renege on its commitment to bring currently unregistered educational settings into the regulatory system, one of the bill's key elements.
The NSS had welcomed provisions contained within the bill intended to protect children from being illegally educated in such settings, such as increased powers of inspection for education watchdog Ofsted and compulsory 'children not in school' registers.
The letter reiterates the importance of such measures, noting the poor conditions and safeguarding risks which have been documented at numerous unregistered schools, as well as the repeated efforts of religious groups involved in such establishments to disguise their activities and mislead authorities.
The NSS also urged the education secretary to reject the "alarmist rhetoric" of Charedi leaders who have claimed the bill is inconsistent with their freedom of religion and poses an existential threat to Jewish identity – a claim that has been rejected by many within the Jewish community.
NSS: Failure to tackle unregistered schools would be a "betrayal"
Stephen Evans said all children should be entitled to receive "a safe and suitable education that allows them to reach their potential and live a fulfilled life, regardless of their background".
He added: "Freedom to practice a religion does not give groups the right to deprive children of a decent education. Failure to pursue legislation to tackle the scourge of unregistered schools would be a betrayal of young people's rights to education."
