A landmark move to bring religious education (RE) into England’s national curriculum for the first time has moved a step closer, following months of work by a national group that included Tony Wilson, Chief Executive Officer at the Oxford Diocesan Board of Education (ODBE).
The government announced this week that it will press ahead with plans to make RE part of the new national curriculum after faith organisations reached what education secretary Bridget Phillipson described as a “consensus” on the future direction of the subject.
The announcement follows recommendations for RE to be brought into the national curriculum in a major review published last year. Although RE is already compulsory in schools, it currently sits outside the national curriculum. As a result, decisions about what is taught are made locally, leading to considerable variation in provision between different areas and schools.
Reflecting on the achievement, ODBE CEO Tony Wilson said:
“The need for the inclusion of religious education within the national curriculum has never been more acute. The provision of high quality RE for all pupils is paramount in promoting and embedding societal cohesion.
“It has been an honour and privilege for me as an education system leader within the Church of England to be a member of a broad and diverse group that has worked collegiately and collaboratively over many months to produce a report that takes us a long way along this journey.
“It is my prayer and hope that our shared vision will become actualised to ensure and enrich the experience of current and future generations of children and young people within the subject.”
The Religious Education Task and Finish Group was asked to reach that consensus. It brought together education professionals alongside representatives from religious and non-religious organisations to develop a draft national curriculum programme of study for RE.
The government said this week that consensus has now been achieved, paving the way for a formal consultation on the curriculum content later this year.
Ministers emphasised the role RE can play in helping young people understand different faiths, beliefs and communities in an increasingly diverse society.
Announcing the breakthrough, education secretary Bridget Phillipson highlighted the significance of representatives from different religious and belief traditions reaching agreement on what RE should seek to achieve. She said:
“Learning about the world’s great faiths and traditions teaches children not just about the world, but how to live alongside and tolerate one another within it.
“In such fractured times, it should be a source of hope that those representing the full spectrum of religion in this country have reached consensus on the most fundamental of points: what our children should learn about the world’s faiths, communities and traditions.”
Under the government's proposals, inclusion within the national curriculum would establish national expectations for the subject while maintaining flexibility for schools to go beyond those requirements.
The Department for Education (DfE) said the change would set “requirements for the subject being taught, to ensure it is delivered to a high standard”. The department added: “The government considers RE a vital subject that develops children’s knowledge of faiths, values and traditions – both in Britain and around the world – and fosters understanding between different communities.”
According to the DfE, the proposed curriculum would ensure that “pupils will have the option to encounter a breadth of traditions and ways of life and studying some traditions”.
When asked what was meant by pupils having the “option” to encounter different traditions, officials clarified that RE would operate in the same way as other national curriculum subjects.
A DfE spokesperson said: “All schools, both faith and secular schools, already have the freedom to build on the requirements of any national curriculum subject. Once RE becomes a subject within the national curriculum, the same principle will apply.”
The department said pupils would learn about both religious and non-religious worldviews and how belief shapes individual lives and communities.
Faith education leaders welcomed the government’s plans.
Paul Barber, director of the Catholic Education Service, said he welcomed the proposal to
“both include RE in the national curriculum while preserving long-standing arrangements for church schools which make up a third of the state sector”.
Andy Wolfe, chair of the Church of England’s National Society for Education, added:
“We fully support the government’s vision both for RE to become part of the national curriculum and also to ensure that the arrangements for church schools are fully preserved in order to continue to support their strong and embedded practice in the teaching and leadership of RE.”