Daily Collective Worship in England Faces Renewed Debate
The UK government has decided to update the guidance on collective worship in schools in England following a Supreme Court ruling that religious education and collective worship practices in Northern Ireland schools violated human rights. The Supreme Court emphasized that Christian-centered religious education and collective worship in schools were not delivered in an “objective, critical, and pluralistic” manner.
Following this decision, the Department for Education announced that the guidance—originally issued in 1994 and widely regarded as outdated—would be revised to align with the current legal framework and human rights standards. While ministry officials have argued that collective worship helps students reflect on belief and societal values, they have acknowledged the need for a more inclusive framework with clearer expectations.
Under current regulations, all state-funded schools in England are required to provide a daily act of collective worship. Non-faith schools may apply for an exemption from the requirement that worship be Christian in nature, while faith schools are permitted to conduct collective worship in accordance with their own religious traditions. Parents have the right to withdraw their children from collective worship, and students at the upper secondary level are able to make this decision independently.
Meanwhile, secular groups continue to argue that the law mandating daily acts of worship should be abolished entirely. Representatives of the National Secular Society maintain that compulsory worship is incompatible with a modern, multi-faith society and argue that updating guidance alone will not address what they view as a fundamentally outdated legal requirement.