What kind of religious education do people in Northern Ireland want?
24 September, 2025, James Nelson
Unlike other parts of the UK, religious education (RE) in Northern Ireland has not been part of any curriculum reforms for a very substantial period – since 2007 – when the current Core Syllabus for Religious Education was revised by four local churches. Almost all schools in Northern Ireland have a Christian ethos and this has a major influence on what is done in both RE and Collective worship, which are often regarded as ‘two sides of the same coin’, especially in Primary Schools.
A recent independent review noted, however, that the Department for Education (NI) needed to rethink the Christian-centric approach to RE and advised that it would be ‘highly desirable’ that a review of the subject be undertaken in the near future . The need for change has also been highlighted during recent court cases in which several judges expressed a view that the current statutory arrangements for the subject were inadequate and did not meet the standards set in the European Court of Human Rights that religious education in publicly-funded schools be objective, critical and plural . Nonetheless, issues regarding religion in Northern Ireland remain bound up with wider national and cultural identities and it is likely that Department for Education are sensitive to reactions to any changes to current practices regarding religion in education. Yet there is little evidence about region-wide attitudes to the subject.
During 2025 we were delighted to be funded by Culham St Gabriel’s to host the Religion and Worldviews for All project at Queen’s University in Belfast. With the support of two community organisations, the Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum and Parents for Inclusive Education we wanted to understand current attitudes and explore possibilities for change in religious education in Northern Ireland. As part of our project, we undertook a survey to understand opinions from across the region to religious education. We asked questions relating to the aims, potential benefits and current arrangements for RE in Northern Ireland. Responses revealed considerable divergence in perspective among the Northern Irish population concerning current practice in RE. While approximately one third of respondents are satisfied with “the role of the Christian Churches in producing the RE syllabus” and “Christianity being the sole focus of primary RE”, at least 38% are dissatisfied. This, together with the relatively high proportion adopting a neutral perspective (approximately 25%) on these issues, suggests there may be support for reforming some aspects of RE provision.
The case for reform appears to increase when examining attitudes towards the aims and social purposes of RE. For example, there was majority support for RE’s role in helping children to “understand different religious worldviews”, “understand different non-religious worldviews”, and “examine and reflect on the beliefs of others”. This is despite the fact that these are not features of the current curriculum. By contrast, the lowest levels of support were expressed for the aim to “accept and deepen Christian faith and beliefs”, although this is arguably the most prevalent aim in the existing syllabus. Most participants (60% or more) also agreed that RE could contribute to benefits such as reducing prejudice and improving recognition of people with minority religious beliefs and non-religious worldviews. This points to widespread agreement that RE reform to better achieve such outcomes would be successful.
Disaggregating responses by community background, however, reveals differences between groups in attitudes to RE. Protestant respondents tend to express significantly greater satisfaction than Catholic, other religious and non-religious respondents with existing arrangements for a broadly Christian RE, and may be less supportive of reform. Notably, however, over half of Protestant respondents also believe that RE should help pupils understand different religious worldviews. Therefore, while there are tensions within and between groups concerning the purpose and provision of RE, there appears support for a broader curriculum than exists at present.
Full findings from the RWE for All project are expected to be published in late autumn 2025 and it is hoped they will provide a valuable source of evidence and inform ongoing discussion about the future of religious education in Northern Ireland.
Rebecca Loader is a senior research fellow at Queen’s University Belfast. Her research focuses on education and peacebuilding, intercultural education, and educational inequalities.
James Nelson is senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. His research interests are in the role of religion in education and he coordinates the Initial Teacher Education Pathway in Religious Education at Queen’s.