Census results could challenge RE status quo

The new social reality is likely to strengthen calls for the reform of religious education in schools, which is based on the assumption that Britain is still largely a Christian country.

It remains compulsory for schools to teach RE from reception to sixth form and its content must “reflect the fact the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian”, while taking account of the other principal faiths practised here.

Schools are also still required to hold a daily act of worship which should be “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character”.

But some believe these requirements are hopelessly outdated and curricula must be updated to reflect the mix of modern Britain.

Of course, Christianity has shaped the culture of these islands and its history cannot be understood without some grasp of the religious values that influenced events. The new monarch will be crowned in an abbey in a ceremony steeped in religious ritual.

However, the case will be increasingly put that it is unfair to make a subject compulsory in schools that ignores more than a third of the population with no fixed spiritual abode.

Last month, the House of Lords gave a second reading to a Bill that looks to change the status quo by broadening the content of RE. According to its proposer, Baroness Burt of Solihull, “non-religious philosophical convictions or views must be given equal respect to religious views” in secular state schools. (Faith schools would be able to retain their religious autonomy).

Supporters of the move included the former president of the Methodist Conference, Lord Griffiths, who said, “For too long, we have pussyfooted around on this”.

The Bill is unlikely to go far this time since the government spokeswoman, Baroness Barran, saw “no need to amend the legislation”, arguing that non-religious worldviews were already integral to RE courses. It was permissible, she said, “for pupils to be withdrawn from all or some religious aspects of RE, while continuing to attend lessons on non-religious worldviews”.

But hers will certainly not be the last word on the subject.