Catholic schools in England have emerged as probably the most ethnically diverse within the country, in accordance with recent figures released by the Catholic Education Service (CES).
The CES’s annual report reveals that almost 1 / 4 (24.6%) of all staff employed across England’s 2,074 Catholic schools come from ethnic minority backgrounds – well above the national average of 16.2% for state-funded schools.
Pupil demographics paint a similarly diverse picture. Of the 817,784 students attending Catholic state-funded schools, nearly half (47.2%) come from ethnic minority backgrounds, far outpacing the 38.7% average across all state schools.
Catholic institutions also serve a big multi-faith and multicultural student population, with 349,309 being non-Catholic students – amongst these 45.6% belong to other Christian denominations, 28.5% report no religion, and 11.1% discover as Muslim.
Altogether, a majority (86.2%) of scholars in Catholic schools come from a faith background, with Christians making up 75.8%.
The Director of the CES, Paul Barber, said: “Catholic schools are clearly popular with pupils, parents and staff from a big selection of backgrounds, and which we consider to be probably the most ethnically diverse within the country.
“This is partly attributable to a respect shown for faith, including for other faiths, which is due to this fact supportive of community cohesion across the country.”
The Catholic Church is the biggest supplier of secondary education and the second largest supplier of primary education in England.
At present Catholic schools dedicate 10% of curriculum time to Religious Education, greater than the common state school, the CES said.
This includes comprehensive study of non-Christian religions comparable to Sikhism, Judaism and Islam.
The CES believes this contributes to their wide appeal amongst families from different backgrounds.
Beyond diversity, Catholic schools were also found to play a very important role in supporting disadvantaged communities.
Government data from the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) shows that these schools teach 51.5% more children from probably the most disadvantaged areas in comparison with the national average.
In practical terms, this support often takes the shape of direct assistance, comparable to uniform grants and breakfast clubs – initiatives adopted by 94% of Catholic schools.
Barber added: “The CES also shares the federal government’s mission to shut the drawback gap inside education, particularly with many parents of our pupils ineligible for Free School Meals attributable to immigration status or low-paid casual temporary employment.”
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