An education review by the government that will add religious education to the National Curriculum has been welcomed by the Church of England, the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, and the National Association of Teachers of RE.
At present RE is a compulsory subject, but it is not part of the National Curriculum. Instead local authorities agree on a syllabus.
As well as making RE a part of the National Curriculum, the government will also be scrapping the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), a qualification that has been criticised for neglecting RE and other humanities, such as music and the performing arts.
The decision to scrap the EBacc has been welcomed, not only be the Church of England, but art, theatre and music bodies.
Nigel Genders, Chief Education Officer at the Church of England, said, "We welcome the decision to scrap the EBacc, an accountability measure which has always had a negative impact on RE and will now make it easier for pupils to study Religious Education at GCSE as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
"At a time where the need for understanding and dialogue across different faith groups and worldviews is increasingly evident, the importance of children studying RE could not be clearer. The Church of England has already contributed to the curriculum and assessment review, including through the deep dive into RE."
Adding RE to the National Curriculum has been described as the biggest change in how the subject is taught in over 30 years.
Sarah Lane Cawte, Chair of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, said, “This marks the start of a new era for Religious Education and one that now requires collaboration across the subject’s community to help deliver the vision of the new National Curriculum.
"The REC is ready to work with government and school leaders across the country to ensure that the voices of RE teachers, academics and religious leaders inform this new direction.
"We are confident that together we can deliver a subject that is intellectually rigorous, challenging and geared towards helping young people flourish in modern Britain.”
The council has previously warned that a shortage of specialist RE teachers was harming the education of students across the country. Many of those who teach RE are actually specialists in another subject.
Katie Freeman, Chair of the National Association of Teachers of RE, also welcomed the government’s changes, saying, “This historic move will help strengthen the provision for RE, supporting schools and curriculum designers to deliver a subject that prepares young people for life, work and further education.
“Alongside accountability measures and the restoration of the teacher training bursary, we have an opportunity to end the 'postcode lottery' of teaching in RE and ensure every student in the country gets the best of our subject.
"NATRE looks forward to continuing to work with other stakeholders in the sector to ensure the completion of this important work.”
