Schools: Curriculum

Lord Bishop of Lichfield Excerpts

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

Under the recent new inspection framework for Ofsted, which is more rigorous, 64% of non-academies are rated good and outstanding as opposed to 75% of free schools. This is after only two years of them being open.

[The Lord Bishop of Lichfield]

Does the Minister agree that the use of the phrase “faith schools” can be profoundly unhelpful in the context of this discussion? Schools of a religious character come in many forms. Is it not true that the nearly 4,700 Church of England schools sit very firmly within the mainstream of English education, and that even C of E free schools and academies are linked to diocesan boards to ensure that the education that they provide is broad and balanced, academically challenging, personally inspiring and serving the needs of the whole local community?

[Lord Nash]

I agree entirely with the right reverend Prelate. Faith schools are a long-established and highly valued part of our educational establishment, and church schools are, too. Church schools consistently outperform maintained schools; they are very popular and often highly oversubscribed. The applications procedures of many of them do not rely heavily on faith; they have a much wider intake.