A review of school data has found a significant increase in pupils taking Religious Studies at GCSE and A-level, and better outcomes for schools with higher rates of entry in the subject.
This was in spite of the government spending no money on the subject in the last five years, and many schools breaking the law by failing to offer any religious education.
The review, carried out by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales and the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education, found a 50 per cent increase in A-level entries for Religious Studies since 2003, and a 30 per cent increase in entries for the equivalent GCSE in the past decade.
In spite of finding higher attainment in schools with higher rates of entry in the subject, the review also identified almost 500 secondary schools with no religious education provision for year 11, and reported that 34 per cent of academies make no timetabled provision for the subject at all.
Religious education is a statutory obligation for maintained schools, and a contractual requirement for academies and free schools in the terms and conditions of their funding agreements.
Deborah Weston, who led the review, said that the government was failing these pupils by failing to provide support. She said the report's data demonstrated that religious education was a key metric of academic achievement, and warned that the government’s plans to make all schools academies risk “denying a generation of students access to this vital subject”.
The past five years have seen no subject-specific funding for religious education. By contrast, over the same time period £387 million has been spent on music projects and £154 million on maths.
Sir Peter Bottomley, the veteran Conservative MP, said: “Too many young people are not getting a fair deal when it comes to religious education.” He warned that neglect of the subject would “leave a gaping hole in the school curriculum”.
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