Databank of Independent Evidence on Faith Schools (March, 2021)

Accord Coalition 39A Moreland Street London EC1V 8BB t: 020 7324 3071 e: [email protected] w: http://www.accordcoalition.org.uk/ Databank of Independent Evidence on Faith Schools (March, 2021) About the Accord Coalition The Accord Coalition is a campaign coalition, launched in 2008, which brings together a wide range of organisations, both religious and non-religious, that are concerned that restrictive legislation around admissions, employment and the curriculum in state funded faith schools can serve to undermine community cohesion, discriminate against pupils, families and staff on religious grounds and not adequately prepare children for life in our increasingly diverse society. Accord’s growing list of members and supporters includes the National Education Union, Humanists UK, the Christian think tank Ekklesia, the British Muslims for Secular Democracy, the Unitarians, the race equality think tank The Runnymede Trust, as well as members from the four largest groupings in parliament. Introduction The scope of evidence surveyed is wide and cannot easily be summarised. Beyond two opinion polls that the Accord Coalition commissioned, the organisation does not endorse any of the evidence this is contained. However, the evidence repeatedly gives cause for concern regarding the current role of religion and belief in the school system and the consequences of this for wider society. The polls and surveys recorded in the report also demonstrate that much of the public have similar concerns to Accord, which is convinced that only through legislative change will an education system be brought about that is free from religious discrimination, division, and obscurantism. This document has been produced to help researchers, journalists, campaigners, legislators and members of the public to find information about the policy implications of especially state funded faith schools and their practices. The aim is to bring together and summarise high quality research from reliable sources, and this databank will be continually updated with new information over time. Other than a small amount of research from Accord, the Fair Admissions Campaign (which Accord co-founded) and Humanists UK and the Runnymede Trust (who are Accord member groups), all other evidence in the report is from sources independent of Accord and its members. The evidence is also recent - all of it dates from 2001 or later and the large majority was produced in the last ten years. The research and information is organised in reverse chronological order and (to make it more manageable) into the nine following categories: • 1. Schools impact upon social and community cohesion • 2. Standards, attainment and social sorting at faith schools • 3. Discrimination in admissions • 4. Discrimination in employment • 5. Homophobia and LGBTQ equality • 6. The curriculum (Religious Education, Collective Worship, Relationships and Sex Education) • 7. Stance of other groups and experts on faith schools policy and role of religion in education • 8. Opinion polls • 9. Other statistical and general information on faith schools If you would like any further information about the contents of the report, about faith schools policy more generally or are aware of any research that should be included in future versions of this databank, then please contact the Accord Coalition Coordinator on 0207 243 3071 or by email at [email protected]. 1. Schools impact upon social and community cohesion Resonating Narratives: The scale of Islamist and far-right extremism among British young people, by Cristina Ariza and Sam Alvis, for The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (September, 2020) Greater ethnic diversity and promotion of critical thinking in schools to tackle extremism The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s report recommended reforms to the school curriculum and increasing religious and racial mixing in schools as two important ways that extremism should be tackled in Britain. As part of the study, the Institute surveyed attitudes of White non-Muslims (WNMs) and Muslims aged between 18-30 in Britain. While over half of both WNM and Muslim respondents agreed that ‘there is never a justification for terrorism or political violence’, antidemocratic and other extremist views were held by a not insignificant minority of both groups. For example, 16% of WNMs and 17% of Muslim respondents believed ‘democracy is broken and we should replace it’, while 9% of WNMs and 15% of Muslims surveyed agreed that ‘people should go out to fight to defend their religion or culture with force’. Islamophobic attitudes amongst many WNMs were recorded, with 31% believing Islam ‘promotes violence and that there are no-go areas [in Britain] where sharia law dominates’ and 17% believing ‘British culture is under threat from invasion’. Meanwhile, many Muslim respondents felt persecuted, with 34% believing that Muslims were ‘systematically targeted in the UK and globally’. The report found an interplay between some demographic, behavioural and environmental indicators and people holding extremist views. It concluded that ‘those who are likely to agree with more extreme messages tend to: say they have been discriminated against; have homogenous social networks in terms of race and religious belief; lack social integration and inter-group contact; and have a negative outlook or feel powerless when it comes to the future.’ (p16) The Institute advised that the UK Government put forward a new vision for countering extremism and grouped its specific policy recommendations under three headings, two of which included ‘A Focus on A Focus on Young People and Diversity’ and ‘Enhanced School Curricula’. Although the report failed to highlight how religious discrimination in school admissions makes the school system more segregated and erroneously argued that the make-up of schools ‘merely reflect residential choices’, it urged for measures to tackle homogeneity within schools. As part of boosting school curricula, the report advised that schools should ‘teach young people how to talk about difficult issues’, including regarding religion, identity and agency. Accord considered it more significant that these arguments in favour of inclusive education were offered by the Tony Blair Institute given that waves of religiously segregationist and discriminatory state funded faith schools that were opened during Tony Blair’s premiership. For Accord, it indicated a growing awareness among policy experts of how important inclusive schools are for forging a more inclusive society. https://institute.global/sites/default/files/2020- 09/Tony%20Blair%20Institute%2C%20Resonating%20Narratives%20FINAL.pdf This research also appears in sections 2 and 8 PARENT POWER 2018: How parents use financial and cultural resources to boost their children’s chances of success, by Rebecca Montacute and Carl Cullinane for The Sutton Trust (September, 2018) Level of families feigning religious observance to get their child in to a Church School This report explores tactics employed by families in England to secure admission to a preferred school and follows a similar study commissioned by The Sutton Trust which was published in 2013 (and is listed elsewhere in this document). This latest study found (in a partly weighted survey) that 31% of parents surveyed knew someone 'personally' who had attended religious services so their child could attend a popular faith school. More parents were aware of other families employing this tactic than any other to improve the chances of gaining access to a preferred school. Other tactics included employing a private tutor to help a child pass an entrance test or moving to live in a school's catchment area. The Trust's 2013 report revealed that 6% of parents with a child at a state funded school admitted to attending church services, when they did not previously, so their child could go to a faith school. In this latest survey 7% of parents revealed that they had personally attended religious services in order to access a school. One of the report's key recommendations was that schools that determine their own admission arrangements should select their pupils via a mixture of random allocation ballots and operating a large catchment areas to '... allow fairer access to the best schools and limit socially divisive incentives for house buying and gaming the system.' (p5) https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Parent-Power-2018.pdf This research also appears in sections 2 and 3 Secondary school choice and selection: Insights from new national preferences data, by Dr Matthew Weldon of the Lancaster University Department of Economics, for the Department of Education (August, 2018) Diminished opportunities for children from an economically deprived or minority ethnic background due to faith school admissions This Department for Education commissioned research report revealed that both minority ethnic and economically deprived families have a significantly reduced chance of getting their children into state funded Church schools. The study looked at a number of towns and the largest cities in England, and explored newly available data revealing parents’ preferred choice of secondary school and the school their children subsequently gained access to. It found local children of a minority ethnic background or who were entitled to the pupil premium were less likely than others to successfully gain a place at oversubscribed schools which determine their own admissions arrangements, including at ‘Church

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