If we are aiming for an inclusive society, the fewer divisions we can impose on our growing children the better.

Virginia Ironside, Journalist, agony aunt and author
I support this campaign. There is too much segregation in life. As we live together so we grow through sharing and understanding not by reinforcing a faith or belief or one set of values. Children from all faith and belief backgrounds should be educated together and allowed to develop their own beliefs independently and within the rich communities in which we all have to live.

Lord Cashman CBE
State-sponsored superstition should have no place in the education of children, who should be left to make up their own minds on the basis of the evidence they see around them. Education should inspire rational thought and display the pleasures of deep understanding; it should not propagate the social poison of divisive dogma.

Peter Atkins, Writer and former Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford
Collectively we have an obligation to provide children with equal access to education, for that to be as inclusive as possible it needs to be secular. In a world marked by so many divisions it is important we protect our education system as something free from religious prejudice.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Labour MP
In today’s society, it is more important than ever that our children can enjoy a diverse and fair education, and have the chance to learn from each other’s differences. The National Secular Society’s No More Faith Schools campaign is an important step in this direction and provides a platform for those who want an inclusive education to show their support for that.

Dan Snow, Historian, broadcaster and television presenter
The UK is now a multi-faith, multicultural, largely secular society. If people want religion to be part of their children’s daily practices or inculcation, they have several choices: do it at home; send them to private religious educational institutions; or set up a privately funded facility nearby but off the school campus.
Doug, from EDINBURGH
People of different faiths need to feel their children will not face discrimination based on what their religion is. Children must have high quality education, also learn in an inclusive safe environment and learn about the world we all share and live in.
Gary, from TEESSIDE
I support the campaign because I think children of all faiths should be educated together to allow them to develop their own beliefs independently.
Janet, from PETERBOROUGH
I was educated in a faith school in Belfast, and we all know about the religious differences there. Religious groups of any kind should not have any control over any parts of our education system it simply gives them easy access to children and allows them to influence the children’s minds and decisions for their own motives. It acts against the multi-cultural, inclusive, and tolerant society that we should be striving to build.
Michael, from EDINBURGH
As a parent of a child in a school which is currently at risk of loosing its secular status for the sake of a lease agreement in a proposed merger I want to see faith based admissions taken to zero. There should be no religious discrimination in the education system. Everyone should be welcome.
Louise, Great Yarmouth
Testimonials
Parent’s perspective: My daughter was turned away from our local school on religious grounds
Posted: Thu, 18 Jun 2020 14:01
My family has been discriminated against on religious grounds – and our four-year-old hasn't been...
Parent's perspective: My son shouldn't have to feel abnormal because he's not Christian
Posted: Fri, 01 Nov 2019 10:08
My son is struggling to reconcile his lack of religious belief with his school's Christian ethos, says...
Parent’s perspective: Why should my children have religion imposed on them at a Catholic school?
Posted: Wed, 07 Aug 2019 10:46
I'm worried my children's freedom to make their own choices on religion will be undermined at a local...
Pupil's perspective: My Catholic school indoctrinated and shamed its pupils
Posted: Thu, 18 Jul 2019 17:03
Our homophobic Catholic school brainwashed young minds into feeling a deep sense of guilt just for being...
Parent’s perspective: Faith schools push dogma as fact and undermine inclusion
Posted: Thu, 11 Jul 2019 12:56
It's high time for parents to demand an end to religious groups' control of children's education, says...
Governor’s perspective: How faith schools prioritise religion over education
Posted: Fri, 31 May 2019 11:20
Matthew is the governor at a Church of England school in Cornwall. He says those running the school have...
Teacher's perspective: Non-Catholics need not apply
Posted: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 14:59
When Rachel applied for a teaching position at a state funded faith school, she found that non-Catholics...
Publicly funded faith schools damage children's education and are undemocratic
Posted: Wed, 31 Oct 2018 16:17
Teachers have an obligation to broaden children's minds, says Robert Bradley. While secular education...
Discriminatory faith schools make it harder to find a school place
Posted: Wed, 08 Aug 2018 15:27
A parent from Harpenden in Hertfordshire on the difficulty facing non-religious families trying to find...
Teacher’s perspective: the growing evangelism in C of E faith schools
Posted: Wed, 13 Jun 2018 10:03
The increasingly assertive religious ethos of Church of England schools undermines the commonly-held...