Religious Education

Religious Education (RE) is already a statutory curriculum subject across the UK and Crown Dependencies. In Wales it is called Religion, Values, and Ethics. In Scotland it is called Religious and Moral Education.

However, many schools with a religious character are permitted to teach the subject from a faith perspective. And many inclusive schools focus exclusively on religions (particularly Christianity) and leave out non-religious perspectives. In Northern Ireland, the situation is even worse. Here, all schools have a Christian ethos and teach a faith-based syllabus created by the four main churches, which is almost entirely about Christianity excludes humanism altogether. In 2025 this was found to be unlawful in a landmark Supreme Court judgment called JR87. The judgment has implications across the UK.

To recognise the growing proportion of people in the UK who are non-religious, numerous expert publications have called for an RE curriculum that is fully inclusive of non-religious worldviews. These include the landmark Commission on RE (CoRE)’s final report in 2018, organised by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC). As a result, humanism is increasingly taught in schools across the country. However, there is still huge room for improvement as the Ofsted Subject Report also found that half the English secondary schools visited in 2024 did not include non-religious worldviews in their RE curriculums and, where they are included, they are often not taught substantively.

In 2025 the Curriculum and Assessment Review made its landmark recommendation that RE should be placed on the National Curriculum in England. However, this will only happen if a consensus can be found on what RE as a nationally determined subject should look like. Work to find this consensus is taking place, with a decision due in 2026. The non-statutory guidance, which has not been updated since 2010, is also being reviewed. Similarly, a review of RE in Northern Ireland is taking place following on from JR87.

In 2021 the Welsh Government changed the law on RE in a way that closely aligns with our policy. Schools in Wales are required to teach humanism equally alongside religions, and admit humanist representatives to the bodies that develop and oversee the syllabuses. Faith schools must provide inclusive lessons if parents request them. The Act has renamed the subject ‘Religion, Values, and Ethics’ (RVE)’ to reflect its broader scope.

2015 and 2023 High Court rulings in England have firmly established that religions and humanism must be afforded equal respect in RE syllabuses and in the bodies that develop and oversee the syllabuses. However, this has yet to translate into reality in most classrooms, and we are pushing for the current curriculum reviews to keep up.

We work for an objective, critical, and pluralistic RE subject that allows pupils to explore various religions and humanism, has the same status as other humanities subjects, and sits alongside them in the curriculum. It should cover religious worldviews and humanism in a social context, as well as looking at their historical origins and development. We want this subject to be a national entitlement for all pupils.

In depth

What should RE be?

Humanists UK campaigns for reform of religious education (RE) because we believe that all pupils in all types of school should have the opportunity to consider philosophical and fundamental questions, and that in an open society we should learn about each other’s beliefs, including humanism. Such a subject supports pupils’ freedom of religion or belief.

We want a subject on the curriculum which helps young people to form and explore their own beliefs and develop an understanding of beliefs and values different from their own; enriches pupils’ knowledge of the religious and humanist heritage of humanity and so supports other subjects such as History, English Literature, Art, Music, and Geography; and allows pupils to engage with serious ethical and philosophical questions in a way that develops important skills of critical thinking, reasoning, and inquiry. It should also teach them that they have the right to change their religion or belief, and that apostasy is not a crime.

All the usual contemporary justifications for the subject of ‘Religious Education’ (RE) in the school curriculum – its contribution to social cohesion and mutual understanding, its presentation of a range of answers to questions of meaning and purpose, its role in the search for personal identity and values, and its contribution to understanding history and culture – can best be served by including humanist perspectives and non-religious students. The 2021 British Social Attitudes survey shows that over two-thirds of young people do not belong to a religion, and it is vitally important that the beliefs and values of these young people are afforded equal respect to religious worldviews.

In practice, our work in RE focuses on ensuring non-religious perspectives are included (e.g. atheism taught about clearly when beliefs about god are being taught, and humanism taught about as the exemplar non-religious worldview). We do not think there should be faith-based teaching in state schools, where pupils are instructed in a particular religion, or instructed on the benefits of a ‘religious life’, and denied their entitlement to a balanced and objective syllabus, and to freedom of religion or belief.

What is the current situation?

At present, in many schools in England RE is (meant to be) provided according to a syllabus that is locally agreed by an ‘agreed syllabus conference’ (ASC), comprising committees representing the Church of England; other religions, beliefs and denominations; teachers; and the local authority. There are 151 ASCs in England and 22 more operating under a similar system in Wales. The syllabuses are overseen by a similarly-composed network of bodies called ‘standing advisory councils on RE’ (SACREs) in England and Standing Advisory Councils (SACs) in Wales.

This antiquated system is becoming increasingly irrelevant, especially at secondary school level in England, as academies and free schools are not bound by the syllabus set by the ASC – they instead set their own. A large majority of secondaries are now academies. Ultimately, we would like to see ASCs abolished, with a national syllabus drawn up by educational and other experts. This position was also endorsed by the Commission on Religious Education.

Voluntary controlled (VC) and foundation faith schools must provide RE in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus. However, if a parent requests that RE be provided in accordance with the religion of the school, then the governors must make arrangements for this to happen. Voluntary aided (VA) faith schools teach RE as set by the governing body in accordance with the religion of the school. However, parents have the right to request non-faith-based RE for their children in the form of the locally agreed syllabus. The current requirement for RE to be taught in all maintained schools while allowing faith schools to be exempt from the statutory requirement for the curriculum to be ‘non-confessional’ means many state-funded schools with a religious character to meet their statutory requirement to provide RE by providing confessional instruction in the particular religion of the school. This opt-out option for faith schools results in many 4 students currently not having access to RE that explores a wide range of views and opinions, including of people whose beliefs and values differ from their own. This negates one of the key arguments in support of the subject – the promotion of community cohesion – and does not adequately allow young people to develop critical thinking skills to evaluate the views and evidence they are presented with and form their own conclusions.

In England, the government launched its curriculum and assessment review in 2024, and released its final report in November 2025. In it, the panel recommended that RE be placed on the National Curriculum. This mirrored our submission to the review, which calls for the inclusion of RE that is taught in a consistent, unbiased, and impartial manner, in the national curriculum. Our response also argues for the teaching of RE to be consistent with developing practice in the subject, and teaches the principal non-religious worldviews (e.g. humanism) on an equal footing with the principal religions. Our response also makes the case for this to be taught in all state-funded schools regardless of whether it has a religious character, and that it should be renamed ‘Religions and Worldviews’ to reflect these changes. We have also been working with Parliamentarians to propose amendments on including humanism in RE in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. In 2026, improved RE was linked to wider work on cohesion as part of the UK Government’s cohesion strategy, Protecting What Matters.

Until such reform is achieved, we want humanists to be admitted as full members of ASCs and humanism to feature on the syllabuses. We are willing to see SACREs/SACs continue as a channel for consultation between teachers and local religion and belief communities, and want to see humanists included equally with religious people on these bodies, as many increasingly are. In fact, in 2025 we reached the important milestone of over 90% of England’s SACREs having full humanist representatives. In Wales, 100% of SACs now have a humanist as a full voting member.

You can read more about why we think humanism should be included in RE on the Understanding Humanism website, where we also provide extensive resources for schools, school speakers, teacher training, and more. We have also published legal guidance by Professor Satvinder Juss (King’s College London) explaining the legal status of humanism in RE and on SACREs and ASCs.

In Northern Ireland RE is governed by the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, the Education Order Northern Ireland 2007, and accompanying guidance from the Department of Education. Under this framework, all grant-aided schools are required to teach RE according to a legally mandated core syllabus. This syllabus is Christian in content, developed by representatives of the four largest denominational churches in Northern Ireland. While schools may supplement the syllabus with additional material, there is no statutory requirement to teach about other religions or non-religious worldviews, such as Humanism. Although parents have the right to withdraw their children from RE, schools are not obligated to provide an alternative educational activity for those who are withdrawn. A 2025 poll commissioned by Northern Ireland Humanists found that 55% of respondents in the 18-54 age range said RE should cover a broad range of religious and non-religious worldviews.

JR87

In 2025, a non-religious father and daughter won a case to the Supreme Court, known as JR87. The Court ruled that an exclusively Christian RE was indoctrination and that the subject must be reformed to be ‘objective, critical, and pluralistic’. This was a landmark judgment, with some commentators calling it the most significant development in the history of education in Northern Ireland. We supported the claim, intervening when it appeared before the Court of Appeal.

In February 2026 the Minister for Education announced a review of the RE syllabus in light of this ruling and we will be engaging with this. We are also seeking to change the current curriculum through other means, most recently through a 2025 consultation on the Northern Ireland curriculum.

What we’re doing

England

  • We’ve worked extensively on the current Curriculum and Assessment Review.In 2025 the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review made its landmark recommendation that RE should be placed on the National Curriculum in England. This is subject to a task and finish group of education professionals and faith and belief groups finding a consensus on what RE as a national curriculum subject should look like. We provided evidence calling for RE that is fully inclusive of non-religious perspectives to become part of the National Curriculum and be renamed ‘Religions and Worldviews’ (or similar) to reflect this broader scope. We have taken part in Review roundtables and met several times with the Review team.

  • We campaigned with parliamentarians to amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to make RE inclusive of humanism in legislation. We supported members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) to table amendments in the Commons and in Committee and Report Stage in the Lords.

  • In 2025, we responded to a consultation by Ofsted, calling for stronger scrutiny of religious education to ensure it is inclusive of non-religious worldviews. We pressed for inspectors to assess whether RE reflects the full diversity of religion and belief, warning that without this, schools may fall short of legal duties and fail to promote inclusion. We also called for Ofsted to resume inspecting on community cohesion.

Wales

  • In 2025 we celebrated the fact that every Welsh Standing Advisory Council for Religion, Values, and Ethics (RVE) has a humanist representative on it.
  • After many years of campaigning, we welcomed the introduction of a new RVE curriculum that was fully inclusive of humanism. As part of this process we gave oral evidence to the Sennedd’s Children, Young People, and Education Committee, and responded to the Welsh government’s consultation on its Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill.

Northern Ireland

  • In 2023, we intervened in the Court of Appeal case known as JR87. The High Court had determined that the practice of exclusively Christian religious education (RE) and worship in Northern Ireland schools ‘amounts to discrimination’. Unfortunately, the Department of Education’s appeal was successful, with the judge determining that, although RE in Northern Ireland fails to be ‘objective, critical, and pluralistic’, this did not breach the human rights of the non-religious family who brought the case because there is a right to withdraw. In 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that this was ‘indoctrination’, and requires that RE curricula should not proselytise or indoctrinate. In February 2026, the Minister for Education announced that a review of RE will take place – however the role of church groups remains, with these taking a consultative role ahead of any wider consultation.

  • We’re working alongside other groups to push for changes to the syllabus, which currently excludes humanism and minority religions. In a 2025 consultation we expressed concern that RE was excluded from a recent review of the curriculum in Northern Ireland and called for it to be urgently reviewed by other means, as the current curriculum – which was drafted by the four largest churches – presumes that Christianity is true and entirely excludes humanism. Following the Supreme Court ruling, we called on the Northern Ireland Executive to end Christian by default RE as part of its curriculum review.

Across the UK and Crown Dependencies

  • We regularly cooperate with a variety of RE stakeholders to promote and enhance the subject. For instance, we are well-respected and active members of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, an organisation of which we were a founding member in 1973. Since then, our representatives have almost consistently held REC board positions, with our Wales Coordinator having been in such a position since 2020. She has also been on the Executive of the Wales Association of SACREs since 2018.

  • We support parents who are experiencing difficulties securing inclusive RE in their children’s schools, both through our parents’ guides for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and by giving bespoke advice where necessary.

  • We have a good working relationship with officials in the UK and Welsh Departments for Education and regularly respond to relevant Government consultations, provide briefings, and sit on working groups related to the subject.

  • Away from our policy work, we also dedicate significant resources to producing classroom materials to support RE (such as the website Understanding Humanism), to providing and training school speakers and local SACRE representatives, and to training RE PGCE students at a number of initial teacher training providers across England.

Appendix: Past work on this issue

England

  • In 2023 we supported humanist representative Steve Bowen to take a successful legal case against Kent County Council when his application to join the SACRE was rejected because humanism is not a religion. The resulting judgment is known as Bowen. The DfE then published guidance stating that applications from non-religious representatives ‘should be considered in the same way as applications from those who represent holders of religious beliefs’.

  • That case built on a previous one in 2015, where we supported three humanist parents and their children in legally challenging the DfE over its exclusion of humanism in the religious studies GCSE subject content. In what is now known as the Fox judgment, the High Court ruled that RE in schools without a religious character must be ‘objective, critical, and pluralistic’ and a syllabus that covered religions in detail but did not give pupils the opportunity to learn similarly about non-religious worldviews like humanism would not meet this requirement. ‘The state must accord equal respect to different religious convictions, and to non-religious beliefs’, the judge ruled. The ruling has extensive implications for the way RE is taught in schools and the content of locally agreed RE syllabuses.

  • In 2022 we worked with Liberal Democrat Peer Baroness Burt of Solihull, who is Vice-Chair of the APPHG, to introduce a Private Member’s Bill to the House of Lords. This Bill would have made RE in England fully inclusive of humanism. However, it fell due to the end of the parliamentary session.

  • In 2018, we welcomed the publication of the Commission on Religious Education’s landmark final report which proposes to rename the subject ‘Religion and Worldviews’ in order to make explicit that humanism must be on an equal footing to religions. The Commission was launched by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales to review the legal, education, and policy frameworks for RE, and we fed extensively into its work. We were heavily involved in its work.

  • As well as helping to keep reform of RE high on the Government’s agenda, we have successfully assisted in all other recent measurable reforms in RE. In 2012-13 we were on the steering group for the RE Council’s RE Subject Review, and were pleased that the final curriculum framework it produced for English schools is as inclusive of teaching about humanism as it is of religions. Similarly, we were members of the steering groups that developed the further English non-statutory programmes of study and attainment targets for key stage 3 and key stage 4/5 RE in 2007; the level descriptions and key stage 1/2 non-statutory programme of learning, in 2010; and the 2010 non-statutory guidance.

  • And we have been involved in other recent policy developments. The REC’s Religion and Worldviews Approach to RE Toolkit (released in 2024), and the 2021 Ofsted’s RE Research Review and 2024 subject report Deep and Meaningful? have highlighted that best practice in the subject involves teaching non-religious perspectives.

Wales

  • The Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 renamed RE to ‘Religion Values and Ethics’ (RVE), which makes explicit that RE must include humanism on an equal basis to the major religions. This change has been implemented by the new Curriculum for Wales. It follows from a successful challenge to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s decision to refuse a humanist representative permission to become a full member of the local SACRE, which prompted the Welsh Government to issue guidance to ensure that these bodies are fully inclusive. Our Wales Coordinator was a member of the Curriculum for Wales Strategic Stakeholder Group advising on the reform.

  • As part of the same reforms, the Welsh Government also removed the rights of parents to withdraw from RVE. However, the parents of children attending faith schools in Wales can request RVE taught according to the inclusive agreed syllabus taught in other schools, rather than in line with any faith-based RVE.

Northern Ireland

Page last reviewed: 10 March 2026