Bringing equity and justice to the RE curriculum for the common good. A contribution to the conversation.

Imagine…

You are a 14-year-old pupil about to choose your options…you are wondering whether to study GCSE religious studies… You have had a mixed experience of the subject so far. You attended a Primary Academy in Key Stage 1 where you learned primarily about Christianity and Judaism. At Key Stage 2 your parents moved house to the neighbouring county and the state maintained primary school you attended followed the locally agreed syllabus. This syllabus specified that pupils would start learning about Judaism at Key Stage 2 so you ended up learning about all the things you’d done in Key Stage 1 all over again. However, you had to learn very quickly about Islam as you hadn’t learned about that before yet everyone else in the class had. On top of that RE was often on a Friday afternoon (maybe so Ofsted wouldn’t look at it?) and sometimes your teacher just ‘ran out of time’ for the lesson. You felt disadvantaged.

You were looking forward to joining a secondary academy which is part of a large MAT. You hoped things would improve. However, as everyone had done something different in RE in the primary phrase (some had followed an agreed syllabus, some a MAT curriculum, some came from schools with a religious character), the curriculum did repeat some things you had done before. Your teacher is not qualified to teach RE either, they are a geography teacher who has some spare time on their timetable apparently. You like the religion and worldviews approach though which focuses on real lived experience of believers. You’re puzzled that friends who have gone to different secondary schools don’t have the same experience. One friend said they didn’t have RE at all but had a few lessons on religion in life skills. Another said the way their religious practice was presented in the classroom didn’t reflect her own experience. Another was more positive saying they had three lessons a fortnight to learn in depth and everyone was required to do GCSE Religious Studies. You really want to know how different people live in and view the world but are not sure you’re prepared for a GCSE based on your experience, but sadly your school doesn’t offer statutory non-examined RE. You wonder why there is so much inconsistency and incoherency in the RE curriculum. It all feels rather unjust and unfair to you…

Like many individuals, schools and organisations, I am currently working with colleagues to submit our evidence to the curriculum and assessment review. As we look deeply at the evidence from over the last 10 years a key theme has come through strongly.

Inequity

• The weak position of RE within the basic curriculum means that its vulnerability leads to inequity of pupils’ experience.
• The provision of RE curriculum is inconsistent, this means some pupils are not receiving their entitlement to the subject thus leading to inequity.
• There are no common curriculum standards for RE, meaning that expectations of pupils in terms of outcomes are inequitable.
• There is a lack of consistency and continuity of content in relation to RE, thus pupils’ experience of the subject is inequitable.

This inequity means that some children and young people are inadvertently being disadvantaged. Currently inequality, lack of diversity (e.g. within worldview traditions, cultural representation) and injustice are built into the system in terms of the curriculum for religious education. Many, if not all, of these inequalities are not intentional. I don’t think anyone who is involved with the subject sets out to bring inequality, but this is increasingly how it plays out in practice. I think it is time to say the status quo is not acceptable for our children and young people. It is time to restore an established entitlement to the religious education curriculum for all pupils in all schools.

However, this is extremely challenging, because for RE, the curriculum is bound up with structures. To call for RE to go into a new National Curriculum, for example, means that the whole religion and worldviews community will have to come together for the common good. This will mean humility of approach, service to others, building consensus and seeking resolutions together; this is crucial if we are to bring justice. It will not be easy, but I do believe it is possible.

I also think it is vital. If the new national curriculum is to be applied to all schools (including academies), then as a religion and worldviews community we need to ask ourselves what would happen if RE is not part of a new national curriculum? Provision is already at crisis point, recruitment and retention of teachers of RE is hugely challenging and funding of the subject by previous governments has been inadequate. If the subject is not part of a new national curriculum, it could be further side-lined; it is I believe an existential moment for the subject.

So I offer a brief summary of the key points of our submission to the call for evidence. It sets out why we believe the only solution to the four areas of inequity is for RE to be in a new national curriculum. The RE community would need to work out what this meant in practice, but the National Content Standard for RE in England provides a very good starting point.

The issues:

Position: The subject has a vulnerable place in the basic curriculum. In addition, its position as a compulsory subject is not valued and the introduction of the EBacc has impacted negatively on the subject. Sitting outside a new national curriculum which would apply to all schools, including academies would place the subject in an even more vulnerable and inequitable position.

Provision: The amount of time given to the RE curriculum is inconsistent. In some cases RE is not taught in certain year groups or key stages. Some schools are not familiar with the current legal framework. Some curricula require all pupils to study GCSE religious studies to meet the current statutory requirement, whilst others do not. There is an evidenced correlation between studying GCSE Religious Studies and a better overall Progress 8 points score, particularly for those who are socio-economically disadvantaged but some pupils do not receive this opportunity. Some pupils are epistemically disadvantaged by not receiving a quality RE curriculum, leading to educational and social injustice.

Standards: There is no national benchmark for the subject leading to inequity in terms of standards. This means there is inconsistency in terms of expectations, pupil outcomes and therefore standards. There are over 100 different agreed syllabi, plus syllabi developed by MATs and providers of schools with a religious character. This makes it difficult to hold schools to account. It raises questions about effective progression and assessment when there is so much variation. There is often repetition of content leading to low standards, lack of knowledge and skills.

Content: There is inconsistent religious education content across all types of school due to the variety of syllabi (e.g over 100 agreed syllabi, numerous MAT curricula). This leads to poor sequencing, weak progression and diversity of pupil experience in terms of developing religion and worldview literacy. Pupils who move from one school to another or in/out of alternative provision, are from a transient community or whose parents are in the armed forces are particularly disadvantaged. The lack of consistency means there is no coherent progression between key stages. There is too much, and out-dated content at GCSE, which does not reflect the lived religion and belief landscape, nor different disciplinary lenses. Pupils (and teachers) are often unable to see themselves in the curriculum.

Restoring Equity- a proposed solution

After much discussion and consideration, there is only one way forward which adequately addresses all four equity issues. This is for RE (religion and worldviews education) to go into a new National Curriculum because it will confirm the status of RE as an equal subject to others and ensure it is not disadvantaged by weak resourcing and curriculum time. The National Content Standard for RE in England (2023) published by the RE Council of England and Wales provides an important way forward, a starting point for discussion, a place for negotiation to begin.

Position: This proposed solution addresses the issue of inequity of position by placing RE alongside national curriculum subjects. Parity is restored.

Provision: This proposed solution addresses the issues of inequity of provision. All schools would be required to follow a new national curriculum for the subject. I am aware consideration would need to be given to EYFS and to non-examined Key Stage 4 and 5 provision. In our submission we make suggestions for the latter relating in relation to preparedness for work and engagement in a complex, global society.

Standards: This proposed solution addresses the issues of inequity of standards by providing a common benchmark for all schools. There is already consensus among the religion and worldviews community around the National Content Standard for RE in England. Expectations of pupils would be the same regardless of what type of school pupils attended. Having a common benchmark would enable the subject to be compared to other curriculum subject standards more appropriately and would support bodies such as Ofsted to hold schools to account.

Content: This proposed solution addresses inequity of content by providing as a minimum a National Content Standard (2023). In addition, there should be a move towards a religion and worldviews approach, considering the lived religion and worldviews landscape, including the diversity in and between different worldviews. There should be a move away from a world religions paradigm. Steps should be taken to build an inclusive curriculum where pupils are be able to see themselves within it. A new GCSE, or equivalent, should consider the real religious landscape, disciplinary knowledge and different ways of assessing (including oracy) pupils’ substantive knowledge. There should be a focus on the educational intent of the curriculum for RE.

In addition, in our submission we have raised the following points which we believe contribute to ensuring equity for all pupils in all schools in relation to religious education. We are advocating for all these elements of a religion and worldviews education to become part of a new national curriculum.

The importance of:

• the contribution of religion and worldviews education to positive community relations
• the contribution of religion and worldviews education to preventing Antisemitism, Islamophobia and Far Right Extremism
• the contribution of religion and worldviews education to promoting and protecting freedom of religion or belief as a human right
• religion and worldviews education for positive mental health and well-being
• religion and worldviews education in preparedness for work and for university readiness
• a hermeneutical approach to religion and worldviews education for development of critical thinking and resilience
• the local dimension, including a role for local or regional advisory groups similar to those found in other humanities subjects.

I believe it is time for the religion and worldviews community to come together for the common good of all children and young people. Culham St Gabriel’s vision is to seek a broad-based, critical and reflective religion and worldviews education contributing to a well-informed, respectful and open society. We have a unique, once in a generation opportunity to move towards realising this vision.

Kathryn Wright
CEO, Culham St Gabriel’s
November 2024

This is the view of Culham St Gabriel’s staff and a significant majority of the Culham St Gabriel’s trustees.

As this is a summary I have not cited all our evidence. However it includes the following:

A New Settlement Revised (2018)
Annual Church of England SIAMS Report (2024)
DfE Workforce Data (2024)
NATRE Primary Survey (2022).
NATRE Secondary Survey (2023)
Ofsted Subject Report (2024)
Ofsted Annual Report (2023)
Policy Institute Report (2023)
RE for Real (2015)
The Bloom Review (2023)
The Commission on RE (2018)
The Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life (2015)
The Religion and Worldviews Suite of Resources (2024)
Understanding Unbelief (2015)

Culham St Gabriel’s Campaign Policy Briefings available at www.cstg.org.uk
Culham St Gabriel’s Focus Group (October Meeting, 2024)