Religious Education: A crossroads
Background
The Department for Education has announced its intention to include Religious Education (RE) within the National Curriculum and has indicated that a public consultation on draft programmes of study will take place in September.
Many teachers and others involved in the sector will welcome the opportunity to strengthen RE and ensure that pupils receive a high-quality education about religion and belief. However, RE is a complex subject with a long history of debate about its purpose and content, and a unique legal basis, meaning that making changes will not be a simple task. It is something that ACT has long had an interest in, given that RE is the main way that British students can start to understand different Religious teachings, but especially what Christianity teaches and its claims about God, Jesus Christ, salvation and the nature of reality.
Current provision
Although RE is part of the basic curriculum and is therefore compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools, it is not currently part of the National Curriculum. Instead, local authority-maintained schools follow locally agreed syllabuses developed at Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs), supported by Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education (SACREs), while academies and free schools provide RE in accordance with their funding agreements, often using the locally agreed syllabus or a comparable alternative.
In early 2026, the Department for Education commissioned a Task and Finish Group to draft programmes of study for a new National Curriculum for Religious Education. Three reference groups—a Teachers’ Group, a Religion and Belief Group, and a Legal Group—were established to provide feedback on the draft proposals.
ACT was grateful for the opportunity to contribute to both the Teachers’ Group and the Religion and Belief Group. It must also be stated that we take no particular position on the adoption of a national curriculum for Religious Education in principle. However, alongside a number of other participants in the reference groups, we have significant concerns about both the process by which these proposals were developed and aspects of the proposed curriculum itself.
The process
Although the Education Secretary has spoken of ‘consensus’ and ‘shared vision’, regrettably, we have concerns that the process did not reflect the openness and breadth of discussion required for such a significant reform.
Concerns have been raised that:
Draft materials were not available for full scrutiny to all parties involved in the reference groups equally; some were given full access to drafts, while others, including ACT representatives, were only given extracts for a limited time.
Opportunities to explore alternative viewpoints were limited and, at times, shut down.
The wider RE community (outside of a select group of individuals), including teachers, academics and faith representatives, were not sufficiently involved.
Participants were only ‘invited to consent’. There was no opportunity to formally record concerns or dissent.
Given the importance of RE in shaping pupils’ understanding of religion and society, we believe that any new curriculum should be developed through a process that is transparent, representative and able to command confidence across different communities.
Concerns about the content
Concerns have also been raised about the educational approach underpinning the draft curriculum, including:
The increasing emphasis on “Religion and Worldviews” as the organising framework for RE (whether or not the term ‘worldview’ is used extensively), and whether this risks reducing religious traditions to personal viewpoints rather than engaging deeply with their theological, philosophical and historical foundations.
Whether pupils will receive sufficient depth of knowledge about Christianity and other major faith traditions, particularly with the introduction of Humanism within the content of study.
The draft materials place a strong emphasis on sociological perspectives, describing religions as “dynamic and constantly changing”. Presenting religious traditions primarily through this lens is misleading, as it reduces them to social and cultural phenomena rather than taking seriously their own truth claims and theological foundations.
Coupled with a focus on people’s religious interpretations and experiences (rather than theology, philosophy and religious studies), we have concerns that the subject could lose much of its academic depth and leave pupils less well prepared for further study at A level and university.
The inclusion of a wider range of belief systems, including suggestions that Paganism could be included as a distinct area of study. This raises questions about the basis on which belief systems are selected and the balance of the curriculum.
Those raising concerns, including ACT, are not opposed to pupils learning about different beliefs and perspectives. Rather, they want to ensure that RE remains academically rigorous, gives appropriate attention to Britain’s Christian heritage, and enables pupils to understand religions as having theological substance and making truth claims.
Why this matters
RE plays a vital role in helping young people understand religion, belief and the society in which they live. Any reform should therefore be shaped by genuine consultation and ensure that pupils are equipped with knowledge, critical thinking skills and a balanced understanding of the beliefs that have shaped individuals, communities and cultures.
This also matters because, with the introduction of the new curriculum, the longstanding legal process for establishing curriculum content will be abolished or amended, with the effect of limiting or even abolishing the input of local religious groups. They will no longer have the opportunity to come together with teachers to have a say in determining local curriculum, reducing opportunities for genuine cohesion and diminishing religious voices in RE.
For Christians, this matters because the input of local church leaders and Christian organisations has often been invaluable in ensuring that Christianity is presented accurately, faithfully and with appropriate theological depth. Their contribution helps ensure that pupils encounter Christian beliefs on their own terms, rather than through incomplete or purely sociological interpretations.
This is particularly significant because Christianity is not simply a collection of individual experiences or cultural practices; it makes truth claims about God, humanity, Christ and salvation. An approach that prioritises sociological perspectives risks presenting Christianity primarily as a changing social phenomenon rather than a faith to be understood on its own terms.
These proposals also do not exist in isolation. Several organisations and individuals closely associated with the development of the draft curriculum have also advocated for the abolition of Christian collective worship and a more secular understanding of religion’s place in schools. While these are distinct policy issues, they pave the way towards a shift away from Christianity having an impact on English education.
We therefore encourage Christian teachers, parents and church leaders to engage constructively with the forthcoming consultation, helping to ensure that RE remains academically rigorous, theologically accurate and capable of building a depth of understanding of different religious groups. ACT will be briefing members on how to respond when the consultation is published.
You can read more detailed analysis from the Religious Education Network, a group that ACT are involved with, here: https://renetwork.co.uk/news/