SRGM Member’s Survey
For November’s SRGM, we conducted a members’ poll to help us formulate the RE Council board’s response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review. The exercise helped inform our understanding of what our members think, and helped some members explore their own CAR submissions.
Notes on Results and Data
Participants were asked to respond to 26 statements, selecting options from a Likert scale of Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree.
Representatives of 52% of REC member organisations responded to the survey. We excluded results that had a consensus of less than 70%. In an unbiased sample, this would give us over 99% confidence that a majority of member organisation representatives supported a view. However, we do not know if there was an underlying reason why some member representatives responded, and others did not. We cannot account for any unknown bias impacting the survey results.
To mitigate this, when mentioning the results from this survey in our CAR response, we have framed the results as being from ‘those REC member representatives who responded’, rather than from the membership entirely. We hope this communicated both any ambiguity around the results, and the significance of views communicated by those member representatives who took the survey.
A Consensus Call for Change
Results
In November, REC Member Representatives, made a consensus call for change to RE. To a range of statements, representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the status quo and emphasised the need for review.
100% of respondents agreed with the statement:
The place of Religious Education in the curriculum should be reviewed to ensure that its status is on a par with the core and foundation subjects of the National Curriculum.
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The theme that changes are urgently needed for the subject continued throughout the survey. 90% of respondents agreed that:
Changes should be made to accountability measures so that schools are held accountable for the standard of their provision for RE
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86% of respondents disagreed with the following statement:
With regards to the place of RE in the curriculum, the status quo should be maintained.
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The strongest responses indicate consensus around a desire for change in RE. There was also a level of consensus around what that change should be, for example, there was strong support for increased diversity and representation within GCSE and A-level content. While the survey found areas of consensus on change it also highlighted issues on specifics which needed to be resolved.
The National Curriculum
On the question of whether RE should be included in the National Curriculum, the member representatives were not persuaded that RE should be included in such a way that the government would determine the content.
Respondents were evenly split, 39% agreeing and disagreeing, on the statement:
RE should be included as part of the National Curriculum (rather than the basic curriculum) in which case the content would be determined by central government.
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This falls well short of the 70% threshold we sought for consensus on this survey. However, we felt this split may be of interest to Members.
The RE Council and REC board does not have an agreed position on RE in the National Curriculum. Many important questions and issues underlie this conversation. There are nuances in people’s views of what is meant by RE being part of the National Curriculum. Within the membership, there are carefully considered arguments and strong feelings for a range of positions.
The process highlighted some of these issues for members around Curriculum, on which respondents took widely differing views. Summarised, these included but are not limited to:
- Considerations on the freedom of schools to set their own RE curriculum
- The question of the State determining RE rather than it being locally determined.
- How RE achieves consistent quality and what that quality is.
- The impact on freedom of religion or belief, and representation of different religious and non-religious worldviews.
National Content Standard for RE in England
Of particular interest to the RE Council board was members’ views on the National Content Standard and its potential to help in discussions around RE and the National Curriculum.
70% of respondents agreed with the statement:
RE should be included as part of the National Curriculum but instead of specifying content, the National Curriculum would use the RE Council’s National Content Standard for RE in England to set a benchmark for content. In this case, content would not be specified by central government.
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Interestingly, 17% of respondents disagreed, and 13% were neutral. This suggests the consensus that has already formed around the National Content Standard may be a good path forward for finding change for RE.
As mentioned earlier, 90% agreed that changes should be made to accountability measures regarding RE. Similarly, 71% agreed that:
Changes should be made to accountability measures so that schools are held accountable for the standard of their provision for RE using the National Content Standard as a benchmark
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GCSE and A-level Assessments
A strong area of consensus for change was around assessments, particularly at GCSE.
Of respondents:
77% agreed that: The GCSE assessment objectives should be updated
74% agreed that: The current GCSE short course should continue but be included in performance measures
74% disagreed that: The status quo should be maintained with no changes to core RE at Key Stage 4
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Member representatives wanted to see greater diversity and representation in assessment content.
73% agreed: GCSE and A level content should be updated to allow pupils to encounter a wider range of religions and beliefs e.g. Abrahamic and Dharmic, and religious and non-religious worldviews,
77% agreed: GCSE and A level content should be updated to reflect a religion and worldviews approach to the study of RE,
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The Right of Withdrawal
Overall, member representatives had mixed views on the right to withdrawal from RE. Only 53% agreed changes should be made to legislation. While 36% thought the right to withdrawal should be removed, compared to 40% who were neutral.
However, 75% of respondents agreed:
The right to withdraw from RE should be removed if RE is required to be critical, objective and pluralistic
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Conclusion
The SRGM Member’s Survey provided valuable insights into the perspectives of REC member representatives regarding the Curriculum and Assessment Review. While there was strong consensus on the need for change in RE—particularly in its status, accountability, and diversity—opinions on specific reforms, such as National Curriculum inclusion and the right of withdrawal, were more divided. The survey highlights both the urgency for reform and the complexity of the issues at hand. These findings helped inform the RE Council board’s response to CAR and will continue to inform the board’s approach. This will help ensure that member views are accurately represented in ongoing discussions about the future of Religious Education.