“RE in schools is generally of poor quality” said Ofsted in their Annual Report 2023. They found “many schools do not meet the statutory requirement to teach RE at all.”
The findings come amidst a crisis in RE teacher recruitment, with RE teacher recruitment missing its target for 9 of the last 10 years. It evidences the need for RE teacher training bursaries, due to be reintroduced for 2024/25 only, to be continued each year and improved to attract more trainees.
The report said: “in too many primary and secondary schools, the religious education (RE) that pupils receive is of a poor quality and not fit for purpose, leaving pupils illequipped for some of the complexities of contemporary society.”
The report also calls for government to “provide clear expectations about RE provision in schools.” And that “non-statutory guidance for RE should be updated and include clear information for schools about the breadth and depth of the syllabus they are expected to teach”
The RE Council’s recently released National Content Standard seeks to help meet that gap. It provides a benchmark for school’s RE content and can assist with much-needed non-statutory guidance.
Here is a longer excerpt from page 50 of the report and the link to the full document.
“RE in schools is generally of poor quality. Although it is a statutory subject, schools often consider RE as an afterthought. As a subject on the curriculum, it is under-valued. RE is a complex subject, and the lack of clarity and support from government makes schools’ job harder. Some schools steer through these challenges well, but most do not.
We found that:
- many schools do not meet the statutory requirement to teach RE at all stages.
- pupils are rarely taught enough substance to prepare them to engage in a complex, multi-religious and multi-secular society (where religion and nonreligion play different parts in different people’s lives)
- too often, schools do not teach topics in the RE curriculum deeply enough for pupils to develop a substantial understanding of the subject matter
- non-examined RE is typically not high quality.
All pupils should develop a broad and secure knowledge of the complexity of religious and non-religious traditions. It will take coordinated effort by stakeholders to improve the quality of RE in schools:
- schools need high-quality professional development to teach RE well
- curriculum publishers need to identify clearly what pupils will learn and when, building on knowledge over time, so that pupils develop a deep knowledge of the chosen religious and non-religious traditions
- the government should provide clear expectations about RE provision in schools. Schools should follow these.
- Current non-statutory guidance for RE should be updated and include clear information for schools about the breadth and depth of the syllabus they are expected to teach.”
The full report can be found here.