---
title: "Hackney faith school plans expose loophole warned of by Humanists UK"
date: "2026-09-12T00:06:00+01:00"
modified: "2026-09-11T13:09:07+01:00"
url: "https://humanists.uk/2026/09/12/hackney-faith-school-plans-expose-loophole-warned-of-by-humanists-uk/"
post_id: 197341
categories: ["News"]
---

# Hackney faith school plans expose loophole warned of by Humanists UK

![](https://i0.wp.com/humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/Untitled-1200-x-628-px-26.png?resize=1200%2C628&ssl=1)Humanists UK have raised concerns after [Hackney Council revealed plans](https://humanists.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hackney-Local-SEND-Reform-Plan-2.pdf) to help independent Charedi Jewish schools move into the state education sector as voluntary aided (VA) faith schools.

Hackney’s new three-year plan for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) notes that school rolls are generally falling. But the Charedi population in the north of the borough is rising, and most Charedi children currently attend independent faith schools rather than state ones. As [reported by Schools Week](https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-deficit-could-double-if-we-pay-private-costs-council-says/), Orthodox Jewish independent schools have launched legal challenges against Hackney council in a bid to secure funding for their SEND provision. While the council is resistant to this, it says it is working with the community on ‘new provision models’, including a pathway to voluntary aided (VA) status. It expects two Charedi independent schools to become VA schools within the next three years.

#### **Warnings about 100% religiously selective schools**

The proposal to convert to VA status can be made under new provisions in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act, which now allow new maintained schools to open more freely for the first time since the ‘free school presumption’ was introduced in 2012. During the passage of the Act, Humanists UK [warned](https://humanists.uk/2024/12/20/humanists-uk-express-concern-about-plans-to-permit-new-100-religiously-selective-schools/) that changes to how new schools are set up would reopen the door to new voluntary aided faith schools that could [select 100% of their pupils by religion](https://humanists.uk/2026/04/29/new-powers-to-close-illegal-schools-as-childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-bill-set-to-become-law/).

Despite this, the UK Government [voted down](https://humanists.uk/2025/02/06/government-votes-to-allow-100-faith-selection-by-new-state-schools/) an amendment, backed by Humanists UK, that would have [capped faith-based admissions at 50%](https://humanists.uk/2024/04/09/what-is-a-faith-school-cap-how-do-faith-schools-harm-society-does-rishi-sunak-want-more-discrimination/), the same limit that already applies to faith academies when they have more applicants than places.

Voluntary aided faith schools have greater freedom than other state schools to discriminate on religious grounds. When oversubscribed, they can prioritise up to 100% of places by religion, allowing publicly funded schools to exclude local children because of their or their parents’ beliefs. The cap would have limited this to 50%. Humanists UK has long argued that expanding the VA sector risks increasing religious segregation and undermines the principle that state-funded schools should be open and inclusive to the whole local community. Voluntary aided schools also have more freedom over how they teach Religious Education and Relationships and Sex Education. Both subjects can be taught in line with the school’s faith.

Humanists UK said that efforts to improve educational provision for Charedi children, including those with SEND, must involve genuine educational reform and not simply transfer existing provision into the state sector.

#### **Commenting on the proposals, Humanists UK’s Policy and Campaigns Manager, Lewis Young, said:**

> ‘Every child deserves a broad, balanced, and high-quality education. Any school entering the state sector must meet the standards expected of state-funded schools — on curriculum, safeguarding, equality, inspection, and preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. It would be deeply troubling if voluntary aided status allowed highly restrictive or inadequate provision simply to transfer into the state sector without fundamental reform.
> 
> ‘We warned during the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act that scrapping the academy-first rule without introducing any cap on faith-based admissions would reopen the door to new voluntary aided faith schools. Hackney’s plans show why those warnings mattered.’

#### Notes

For further comment or information, media should contact Humanists UK Head of Press and Campaign Communications Nathan Stilwell at <press@humanists.uk> or phone 0203 675 0959 (media only).

Read more about our work on [state-funded faith schools](https://humanists.uk/2026/05/23/catholic-academy-trust-expansion-sparks-warning-over-religious-control-of-state-schools/).

Read the [Schools Week report](https://schoolsweek.co.uk/send-deficit-could-double-if-we-pay-private-costs-council-says/).

Humanists UK is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people. Powered by over 150,000 members and supporters, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. We provide ceremonies, pastoral care, education, and support services benefitting over a million people every year and our campaigns advance humanist thinking on ethical issues, human rights, and equal treatment for all.