Schools entitled to prioritise Christianity

 Schools will not be forced to teach atheism and will highlight that Britain is mainly a Christian country, writes Rose Gamble.

New guidance, published this week by the Department for Education, says “there is no obligation on any school to cover the teaching of non-religious views”.

It also said that religious education should “reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are, in the main, Christian”.

A high court ruling last month found that the Government had unlawfully excluded non-religious views, including atheism, from the curriculum.

Paul Barber, director of the Catholic Education Service (CES), welcomed the additional guidance, which he said respected the autonomy of faith schools in determining their RE curriculum.