Reform UK wants to force every school to sing Christian hymns – and says there will be ‘consequences’ for schools that refuse. Add your name and help us defend inclusive education.
Reform UK has unveiled plans for a new ‘patriotic curriculum’ explicitly rooted in Christianity.
Its education spokesperson, Suella Braverman, says every school would be required to sing Christian hymns on a regular basis. She has said the requirement would be backed by law and guidance, that Reform would look at using Ofsted to check compliance, and that ‘there will be consequences’ for those that do not.
This should concern everyone who believes children deserve an education that respects their freedom of thought.
Schools should educate children, not impose religion on them
In 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that exclusively Christian Religious Education and collective worship in Northern Ireland amounted to ‘indoctrination’. And in England, the courts have said that schools have a duty to give equal respect in education to religious and non-religious beliefs, including humanism.
But what Reform UK is proposing is the opposite of this: Christianity for every child, or else! That is exactly the kind of fusion of religion, national identity, and political power that we should be guarding against.
Britain’s schools serve children from every religion and belief background, including huge numbers who are non-religious. Making pupils regularly participate in explicitly Christian activities would send a clear message: that one religion belongs at the heart of national life, while everyone else belongs somewhere outside it.
Children deserve an education that helps them understand the diverse society they live in, think critically, and form their own beliefs. They should never become pawns in political attempts to impose a particular religious identity on the country.
The Government needs to draw a line now
Reform UK is not in government. But proposals like these show why we need strong safeguards against Christian Nationalism taking hold in our education system.
Humanists UK will write to the Education Secretary asking for a clear commitment that schools and pupils will be protected from attempts to impose Christian nationalist ideology through the curriculum, worship, or political pressure, and that existing compulsory worship is replaced with inclusive assemblies for all.
We will call on the Government to defend inclusive, balanced education that respects the freedom of religion or belief of every child – and to reject any attempt to push our schools further towards compulsory Christianity.
Add your name
If you believe schools should bring children together rather than impose one religious identity on them, stand with us.
Add your name and call on the Education Secretary to introduce inclusive assemblies for all, and to keep Christian Nationalism out of our schools.
By ©House of Commons / Laurie Noble
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