Religious Education not taught in thousands of English schools, new report reveals

September 17th, 2017

More than a quarter of secondary schools in England are not teaching their pupils any Religious Education (RE), a new report by the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) and Religious Education Council for England and Wales has revealed. The report, which details the results of a survey of 790 schools, found that no RE is being provided in 28% of secondary schools. The situation appears worse in academies and free schools, where RE is not taught in 34% of schools at Key Stage 3, or at 44% of schools at Key Stage 4.

The picture maybe even more bleak than the data might indicate: NATRE suggested that schools who perform well in terms of their RE provision would be more likely to respond to the survey.

Rob Loe joined Pam Mungroo on the BBC breakfast show to discuss the report and its implications. You can listen to the interview by clicking the icon below:

He argues that whilst the debate is important, and developing a religiously literate society vital, we should not lose sight of the antecedents of this symptom, namely the ever-narrowing curriculum in England.