Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that state-funded schools meet the statutory obligation to teach religious education as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.

It is the responsibility of individual schools to ensure that they meet their statutory obligations to teach religious education.

If an individual has concerns that a school may not be meeting its duty to provide religious education, they should first follow that school’s complaint procedure. If the complaint is not resolved, then the issue can be escalated to the Department’s School Complaints Unit for maintained schools, or the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, free schools, university technical colleges or studio schools. Information about school complaint procedures can be found here: www.gov.uk/complain-about-school.

The Secretary of State for Education has a range of powers to ensure schools comply with their statutory obligations. The exact powers used will depend on the nature of the statutory duty in question and the potential impact of any failure to comply. The powers used could include a direction under 497 of the Education Act 1996, a performance and standards warning notice under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and a referral to Ofsted for an inspection. Where academies are subject to the same statutory duties as maintained schools, the Secretary of State has powers to enforce compliance via the terms of the funding agreement.