The Award Criteria

The REQM has three levels of award: bronze, silver, and gold. The REQM uses evidence to tell the big story of RE in your school. Levels are progressive and cumulative. View the criteria to decide which level of award your school would like to aim for.

REQM Criteria 2024 (English)
Meini Prawf MAAG 2024 (Cymraeg/Welsh)

(Previous criteria can be found here: REQM Criteria (English), Meini Prawf MAAG (Cymraeg/Welsh))

National Content Standard for RE in England

The RE Council expects schools in England to make a judgment as to the degree to which they meet the RE Council’s National Content Standard for RE.  The National Content Standard (NCS) sets a standard that all RE content should reach, it does not determine content specifics.  Released in September 2023, not every curriculum or Agreed Syllabus meets the NCS yet.  Consequently, a school should give reference to how their appropriate syllabus meets the NCS (REQM criteria 3.1) or should demonstrate their leadership awareness (criteria 4.1) of areas where their appropriate syllabus could be developed to meet the NCS at a later date.

The RE Council expects schools in Wales to be following the statutory requirements for Religion, Values, and Ethics found here.

Humanities: Designing your curriculum – Hwb (gov.wales)

Collecting Evidence

To help with collecting evidence, download the School Evidence forms.  Then highlight those sections you think apply to your school.

School REQM Evidence Form

Meini Prawf a Ffurflen Dystiolaeth MAAG

 

When you collect Evidence you might need:

  1. Your school’s RE policy and other relevant policies
  2. The governing RE syllabus(es) for your school
  3. Planning documents for RE and your school’s development plan
  4. Pupils’ work
  5. Photos of events
  6. Records of staff training and leadership
  7. Analysis of pupil questionnaires (below) and other feedback

The School REQM Evidence Form (REF) should be sent to your assessor at least two weeks (10 working days) ahead of your award date.  The assessor can ask for additional evidence or make suggestions about what else could be helpful.

Please do not send this form to the REQM office unless it is requested for moderation purposes. The form is available in English or Welsh.

Schools that specialise in children with SEND are welcome to amend the evidence form so that it is suitable for the RE in their school. Please contact the Project Manager if you have any questions about this process.

Complete the form using your own school’s examples. This is not intended to be hard work: it is gathering evidence. The correct evidence can tell the story of RE in your school.

Evidence – Pupil Questionnaires

Download either the REQM primary or secondary questionnaire.

Primary (English)  Primary (Welsh)

Secondary (English)  Secondary (Welsh)

Early in your evidence gathering, arrange for groups of pupils to complete the questionnaire – this should be a cross-section of the learners in your school.

Pupils do not have to include their names.

Some schools are offering the questionnaire to all pupils, but this is not necessary for an REQM award – a sample is sufficient.

The learner questionnaires are a key element of evidence for the award, as pupil voice is vital, but the school’s analysis of the responses is also an important part of the REQM evidence trail.  Your assessor will want to see (at least) a sample of the questionnaires and the school’s analysis.  The assessor will also ask to meet with a group, or groups, of pupils during the award visit – online or in person.