Faith Schools
Around a third of all state-funded schools are schools 'with a religious character', popularly known as ‘faith' schools, and their number is growing, with some minority religions and Christian denominations running new schools, or taking control of existing community (non-religious) schools, or sponsoring new academies.

Faith schools are exclusive, divisive and counter to social cohesion. Many have control of their own admissions, creating school populations that are far from representative of their local populations in religious, ethnic or socio-economic terms.
Many also discriminate in their staffing on grounds of religion, barring teachers who are not of the ‘right’ religion, or of no religion, or because of their sexual orientation, from employment or promotion. The majority of suitably qualified teachers are thus potentially excluded from the top positions in a third of all state schools.

In addition, rather than teach Religious Education (RE) in the relatively objective way used in community schools, faith schools are permitted to teach their own syllabus of confessional 'RE' which does not have to include learning about other religions or about Humanism.

Please click on the link at the left hand side of this page to email your MP and ask them to act on our concerns.