Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national plan for religious education.

Religious education (RE) is an important subject that should provide pupils with an opportunity to learn about a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs. RE should help pupils to better understand the values and traditions of different religious communities, which is why it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review led by Professor Becky Francis. It will publish an interim report in the early spring and a final report with recommendations later this year.