‘Significant’ number of colleges failing to fulfill religious education obligations

There have been calls for more support for religious education (RE) after an Ofsted report published this week found that many faculties have to “add depth” to their RE curriculum.

Ofsted’s latest subject report, ‘Deep and meaningful’, draws on evidence gathered during visits to a sample of primary and secondary schools in 2013. 

It is the primary time that RE provision has been reviewed by Ofsted since 2013 and the report published on Wednesday found that “little progress” has been made since then.

In “most” schools, RE provision is “superficially broad but lacks depth”, while “a major proportion of colleges” are failing to fulfill the statutory requirement of teaching RE in any respect educational stages.

Ofsted also found a “lack of clarity” across the RE curriculum, prompting calls for higher government guidance outlining what needs to be taught and when. 

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver, said: “A powerful RE curriculum is just not only necessary for pupils’ cultural development, it’s a requirement of law and too many faculties are usually not meeting that obligation.

“I hope that the examples of excellent RE curriculum in our report help schools develop their very own practice and support the event of a robust RE curriculum for all.”

Deborah Weston, Chair of the Religious Education Policy Unit, said that Ofsted was right to spotlight that “in far too many faculties across the country RE doesn’t fulfil the topic’s potential”.

“Fortunately, lots of the aspects it identified as enabling high-quality RE may be easily addressed. These include strong teacher subject knowledge, access to skilled development, regular time for RE lessons, and a well-organised curriculum,” she said. 

Sarah Lane Cawte, chair of the Religious Education Council of England & Wales, said that funding was a think about poor RE provision.

“In recent years RE has suffered from a gulf in government funding and the axing of the teacher training bursary,” she said.

“Whilst the bursaries have been reinstated there remains to be much to be done. We are pleased that this Ofsted report calls for more government motion to support RE across the sector.”