Science education

We strongly support teaching young people about the importance of science and the scientific method as a reliable route to knowledge and understanding about the universe. We also support the teaching of evolution in all schools, both primary and secondary, as a fundamental idea underpinning the subject of biology. We have led the campaign in support of evolution being added to the primary national curriculum, and in opposition to creationism being taught as science in state schools. This has succeeded in state schools in England.

It is also our position that non-scientific or unevidenced theories or approaches should never be taught as if they are scientific or evidenced. We do not think that pseudoscientific ideas such as creationism and ‘intelligent design’ should be taught as scientific theories, because they are not. This has also succeeded in state schools in England.

In depth

We believe that the science curriculum in schools should make direct reference to the value of science as a way of determining knowledge. It should cover the historical background of different discoveries, the development of the scientific method, and its impact on society. Students should be taught how scientists actually know what is true. This means covering things like the falsification theory, randomised controlled trials, double-blinding, statistical biases and fallacies, peer review, meta-analysis, and much more.

Scientific discovery should also be an important component too. Practical science lessons are often about following instructions to reach a desired conclusion which reinforces what the ‘facts’ are, but not how we get to them. Pupils should also be taught how to plan experiments, including working out the appropriate controls, what resources they would need, and how to modify an experiment if at first they couldn’t get a result. This is useful both for future scientists and to build critical thinking among all students, to help them as adults tackle misinformation they may encounter, particularly online.

England

In England, successive governments have been clear that ‘creationist’ views of the origin of living things, such as ‘intelligent design’, are not science and have no place in the science curriculum.

This came about as a direct result of our campaigning on this issue. In 2011, we ran the ‘Teach evolution, not creationism’ campaign which included e-petition and high-profile supporters such as Sir David Attenborough. In response to the campaign, in 2012 the Government changed the rules to require free schools to teach evolution. This happened through the insertion of clauses into the funding agreements governing free schools which state, first, that they ‘shall make provision for the teaching of evolution as a comprehensive, coherent, and extensively evidenced theory’; and second, that they ‘must not allow any view or theory to be taught as evidence-based if it is contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations. This clause applies to all subjects taught.’ These clauses were subsequently added to academy funding agreements as well.

Similarly, we were pleased when in 2012 the Government announced it would add evolution to the primary curriculum in England. This happened in 2014. In the same year, as a direct consequence of our ‘Teach evolution, not creationism’ campaign, the Government changed the rules to prevent all English state schools from teaching pseudoscience in any subject. It did so through interpreting the statutory requirement to provide a broad and balanced curriculum as preventing the teaching of pseudoscience.

Despite this, creationist ideas about the origin of life are sometimes presented in RE in a way that does not enable pupils to understand they are not factual. If evolution is not taught in science lessons throughout the key stages then children will not have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the difference between scientific theories and religious myths, such as young earth creationism. The basics of evolution and the wider story of our origins should be included in Key Stage One when children learn about religious creation stories. A robust National Curriculum that fully supports the teaching of evolution will provide a vital guide to parents of children.

We are also concerned that many religious private schools still teach creationism and climate change denial, and that creationist private schools continue to receive state funding through the free nursery places scheme, in spite of a ban meaning that they shouldn’t.

Wales

In 2019 we raised concerns about how there was no proposed ban on the teaching of creationism as science as part of the Welsh Government’s review of the national curriculum. Nor was there any provision to teach evolution until the age of 14. Our open letter to the Welsh Government, which received coverage on BBC News, was signed by Sir David Attenborough, Alice Roberts, the British Science Association, the Association for Science Education, the Campaign for Science and Engineering and other leading scientists and science organisations.

The new Curriculum for Wales, which was implemented in 2022, states that it expects all children to be taught about evolution. It subsequently included knowledge about natural selection in the What Matters Code which sets out the basic standards a school curriculum in Wales must meet to comply with the law. However it does not explicitly mandate the teaching of evolution. The the Welsh Government also has not said that schools cannot teach creationism as science. It has repeatedly ignored calls by leading scientists.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, although science is a core component of the curriculum, it is not compulsory at Key Stage 4 (upper secondary school). Furthermore, the terms ‘evolution’ and ‘natural selection’ are entirely absent from the statutory guidance, so it is possible for schools to leave them out of the curriculum altogether. There are also no rules prohibiting the teaching of creationism as scientifically valid.

Scotland

In 2015, the then Minister for Learning, Science, and Scotland’s Languages stated that creationism should not be taught as part of science lessons, although he stopped short of banning its teaching in publicly funded schools. Our sister organisation Humanist Society Scotland leads the campaign for a broad and balanced education in Scotland.

What we’re doing

• In our response to the UK Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review we called for the basics of evolution and the wider story of our origins to be included in Key Stage One when children learn about other, religious, creation stories. We also called for a robust National Curriculum that fully supports the teaching of evolution across all key stages.
• We called for the curriculum to make direct reference to the value of science as a way of finding out knowledge, and argued that pupils should understand that the scientific method has provided a consistently reliable way of finding provisional answers to questions about the nature and behaviour of things. We also called for the general strengthening of science education to make sure that students are taught how scientists actually know what is true by covering things like the falsification theory, randomised controlled trials, double-blinding, statistical biases and fallacies, peer review, meta-analysis, and much more. This is useful both for future scientists and to build critical thinking among all students, to help them as adults tackle misinformation they may encounter, particularly online.
• In 2024 evidence emerged of creationism and evangelical Christianity being taught at Llanidoes High School, including science posters and resources and ‘advice pages’ in school planners featuring quotes from the Bible. We once again called on the Welsh Government to ban the teaching of creationism as science in schools. The school also prominently advertised Christian clubs and the evangelical Christian ‘Alpha Course’ which aims to convert young people to Christianity. The news prompted Powys Council to raise its concerns with the school and Welsh Government. We have not been made aware of any further concerns with this school since.
• As part of our response to the Northern Ireland Curriculum Review, we called on the Government to mandate the teaching of evolution and prohibit the teaching of pseudoscientific ideas such as creationism or intelligent design as scientifically valid in all state schools.

Appendix: Past work on this issue

• In July 2009 we organised a letter from twenty-six of the UK’s top scientists and science educators that called on the UK Government to add evolution to the new primary science curriculum proposed for primary schools in England, and improve teaching about the scientific method. Teaching of evolution in primary schools was subsequently included in the Children, Schools and Families Bill, however was later dropped as the Bill was not passed until the wash-up period at the very end of Brown’s tenure as Prime Minister.In 2013 Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls School, a Charedi Jewish maintained secondary school in Hackney, was caught blacking out GCSE science exam questions on evolution, and also failing to teach evolution properly. The exam regulator Ofqual initially condoned the censorship, but after pressure from us, changed its mind. At the time the school said it was still advising pupils to avoid the questions – and was therefore failing to meet its statutory obligations around teaching evolution and creationism. In spite of all this, in October 2014 it was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. In 2018 this rating was revised to ‘inadequate’ on the grounds the school was, amongst other things, redacting content from books and offering a narrowly religious curriculum. However, the fact it took so long for Ofsted to make this judgement reflects wider concerns we have about the quality of inspections in this area, both in the state and private school sectors.

• Also in 2013 we were particularly concerned to discover that private creationist schools, including Christian, Muslim and Jewish schools, have been gaining state funding through the Government’s free nursery places scheme. Following our campaigning efforts, in 2014 the Government banned such institutions from receiving this funding– but in practice it appears that the funding has continued. We are actively working to challenge this.

• We investigated pseudoscientific teaching in Maharishi and Steiner free schools, including Steiner schools giving homeopathy to pupils and refusing to offer vaccinations. In 2014 we won an Information Tribunal case against the Government which forced it to publish civil servant briefings expressing serious concern about racism and systemic bullying in private Steiner schools. In 2019, following a number of damning Ofsted reports about Steiner schools in both the state and private education sector, we were pleased to learn that the body responsible for inspecting private Steiner schools, the School Inspection Service (SIS), had finally been closed and a joint review by Ofsted and the DfE was launched into the extent to which the Steiner method – based on a pseudoscientific philosophy called anthroposophy – was responsible for the systematic failures of these schools.