IS A POPULAR AND ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS SUBJECT. BOTH

OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITIES INCLUDE RS IN THE TOP LEVEL LIST OF

VALUE OF THE QUALIFICATION

HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED SINCE 2003 – UP BY 110%! THAT’S MORE THAN ANY OTHER ARTS, HUMANITY OR SOCIAL SCIENCE SUBJECT.

WHO TOOK UP A PLACE TO READ MATHS

AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY IN 2011

HAD A RELIGIOUS STUDIES A LEVEL(MORE THAN HAD ECONOMICS, PHYSICS OR BUSINESS)

20%

OF STUDENTS

GCSE RELIGIOUS STUDIESFULL COURSE ENTRIES IN ENGLAND INCREASED BY

RELIGIOUS STUDIES A LEVEL ENTRIES

+110%

THE RUSSELL GROUPOF TOP UK UNIVERSITIES DESCRIBES RS A LEVEL AS

A REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

SUITABLE PREPARATION FOR UNIVERSITY GENERALLY

GENERALLY SUITABLE ARTS A LEVELS

IN SOCIETY

OF THE POPULATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES BELIEVE HIGH QUALITY RE PROMOTES

IN 2014 A REPORT BY A CROSS-PARTY GROUP OF MPS FOUND THAT RE PLAYS

REPORT CARD

51%

RELIGIONAND BELIEF

TOLERANCE, RESPECT AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

CONTINUE TO TOP THE

NEWS AGENDA AND RE HELPS YOUNG PEOPLE MAKE SENSE

OF IT.

A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN

AND MISUNDERSTANDING.REDUCING RELIGIOUS CONFLICT

IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO HAVE

ON – AND PROVIDE BENEFITS TO – SOCIETYA POSITIVE IMPACT

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE

AROUND ONE THIRD OF SCHOOLS VISITED BY OFSTED WERE

RE IS TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE TAUGHT BY A TEACHER WITH NO POST-A LEVEL QUALIFICATION IN THE SUBJECT OVER ONE IN FIVE

SECONDARY SCHOOLS DO NOT OFFER RE AT GCSE

22% LACK OF SUBJECT EXPERTISE

IDENTIFIED AS HAVING A

IN KEY STAGE414.7% VS29.6%

OFSTED FINDINGS SHOW US THAT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SHOULD BE TAUGHT BY WELL-TRAINED TEACHERS WITH STRONG SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE, YET TEACHERS RECEIVE LITTLE

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

46% 73%

SPECIALIST RE TEACHERS

SPEC

IALIST HISTORY TEACHERS

HISTORY TEACHERS

RE TEACHERS

GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE

TEACHER TRAINING

OFSTED’S FRAMEWORK EXPECTS THAT PUPILS WILL BE PREPARED FOR LIFE IN

THE DECISION TO NOT COUNT RE IN

PERFORMANCE TABLES

DOWN 67% SINCE 2012

HAS LED TO A DROP IN RE GCSE SHORT COURSE ENTRIES IN ENGLAND

-67%

BURSARIES WERE REINTRODUCED IN 2015 BUT AT £4,000 THEY ARE WORTH LESS THAN HALF [44%] OF BURSARIES FOR

STEM SUBJECTS [£9,000]

85,000 FEWER STUDENTS ARE STUDYING ANY RELIGIOUS STUDIES GCSE IN 2015 COMPARED TO 2012 [A FALL OF OVER 20%]

BUT IT IS FAILING TO REPORT ON SCHOOLS THAT ARE NEGLECTING THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES IN RE

MODERN BRITAIN

IN 2013/14 OFSTED REPORTED ON ONLY ONE SUCH SCHOOL, LESS THAN OF INSPECTIONS

0.1%

MINISTERIALEFFORT

PUBLIC STATEMENTSOF SUPPORT ARE NOT ALWAYS BACKED UP WITH50%

I THINK THAT RE HAS SUFFERED AS A RESULT OF MY BELIEF THAT THE

PROTECTION OF IT [IN THE 1944 EDUCATION ACT] WAS SUFFICIENT AND

MICHAEL GOVE MP, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, JULY 2013

NICKY MORGAN MP, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, NOVEMBER 2014

MINISTERS HAVE RECOGNISED THE NEED FOR CHILDREN TO SHOW MUTUAL RESPECT AND TOLERANCE OF THOSE WITH DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS; YET THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S GUIDANCE FAILS TO MENTION RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

AT ALL.

A SERIES OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES AND AN INCONSISTENT APPROACH FROM MINISTERS

SUPPORTIVE ACTION

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

IT SHOULD ENSURE THAT ALL PUPILS IN ALL SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES AND COLLEGES HAVE ACCESS TO GOOD QUALITY RE

MORE EFFORT

IN 2014 THE GOVERNMENT OVER-ALLOCATED PLACES FOR TEACHER TRAINING IN RE

BUT DID NOT PROVIDE NECESSARY FINANCE TO POTENTIAL STUDENTS TO SEE RE TEACHING AS FINANCIALLY REWARDING

AS PART OF REFORMS TO NON-EBACC SUBJECTSOFQUAL HAS BEEN WORKING WITH OTHERS TO IMPROVE THE CONTENT AND RIGOUR OF THE RELIGIOUS STUDIES

GCSE AND A LEVEL

SOURCES

Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2013 to 2014 www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4

School Workforce Survey in England, November 2013 www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013

Joint Council for Qualifications www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/a-levels, www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/gcses

National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE): An analysis of a survey of teachers on the impact of the EBacc on student opportunity to study GCSE RS, July 2014

Department of Education: Promoting fundamental British values as part of Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development in schools, November 2014

Hansard, 18 March 2014 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140318/text/140318w0002.htm#140318w0002.htm_wqn65

All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education: RE and Good Community Relations, March 2014

Ofsted: Realising the potential, October 2013

Russell Group: Informed Choices www.russellgroup.org/InformedChoices-latest.pdf

CEM Centre, Durham University: Relative difficulty of examinations in different subjects, July 2008 www.score-education.org/media/3194/relativedifficulty.pdf

YouGov survey of 2038 adults in England and Wales, July 2014

IS NOT A SOFT OPTION

A DURHAM UNIVERSITY STUDY SHOWED THAT A LEVEL RS IS

GOVERNMENT COULD

DO BETTER AND APPLY WHAT IT HAS LEARNED SINCE 2010

IT NEEDS TO TAKE A LONGER TERM VIEW OF RE AND RECOGNISE THE POSITIVE ROLE IT PLAYS IN SOCIETY AS WELL AS A SUBJECT

WORTH STUDYING

GOVERNMENT SHOULD COLLABORATE WITH OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO IMPROVE THE AVAILABILITY OF SPECIALIST RE TEACHERS WHICH WILL HAVE THE ADDED BENEFITS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TEACHING

EREQUIRED

C

D

C

A

A

CAN HELP ACHIEVE THE

SEPTEMBER 2015

Icons courtesy of Font Awesome, Octicons, Vecteezy

19% BETWEEN 2012 AND 2014

OFF %AC

9 87

654

321

42%