Religious Education in England is Inadequate
OFSTED has criticized religious education (RE) in England as “limited and of poor quality”, saying schools are failing to meet their legal obligations in this area. The education watchdog called on the government to update guidance “as a matter of urgency”. The published report analyses the strengths and weaknesses of RE teaching.
The report highlighted that the curriculum for RE in schools is often “superficially broad” but lacks depth. Sir Martyn Oliver, OFSTED’s chief inspector, said that a strong RE curriculum was not only essential for the cultural development of pupils, but was also a legal requirement, and that many schools were failing to meet this obligation. Oliver said the report provided examples of good curriculum to help schools improve their practice.
The report is based on OFSTED’s findings from visits to 50 schools between September 2021 and April 2023. Among the shortcomings found was that a significant proportion of schools failed to meet the legal requirement to teach pupils about religion at every stage of their education. In secondary schools in particular, many RE lessons are of poor quality.
The report also highlights that the RE curriculum often “lacks sufficient content to prepare pupils for life in a complex world” and that the curriculum often lacks depth. It also criticises the teaching of exam skills to pupils “too early”. This is said to significantly limit the range and type of religious education content taught.
OFSTED states that most teachers do not receive sufficient professional development in RE and stresses that schools should ensure that teachers have the necessary skills in this area.
This underlines the urgency of taking action to improve the quality of RE for pupils. OFSTED’s report emphasizes that Religious Education is not just an academic subject, but also plays a crucial role in shaping pupils’ world views, and that all interested parties should pay due attention to this area.