Schools' religious education not adequate says watchdog

Ofsted said religious education was not adequate enough in diverse cities

Teaching standards for religious education (RE) across the country are "not adequate enough", education chiefs have warned.

Ofsted raised concerns that the teaching of religious education was not sufficient to prepare young people for adult life in such diverse and multicultural communities.

In too many schools, the RE which pupils received was "of a poor quality and not fit for purpose" and left them "ill-equipped" for some parts of society, they said in their report.

The issue was discussed in Wolverhampton after Ofsted wrote to local authorities.

Ofsted reported a number of findings to the city’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE).

Their report said schools were not addressing issues on the RE curriculum that pupils needed to learn about, in order to deal with challenges they would face as adults.

The City of Wolverhampton Council said there was "a real shortage of RE teachers nationally".

Ofsted's fears have been forwarded to the government to request improved guidelines and clearer expectations about the depth of the RE curriculum to be taught and the topics teachers needed to focus on as a priority.

'A complex subject'

A report to Wolverhampton SACRE, which is due to discuss the findings on 7 February, said: “Although it is a statutory subject, schools often consider RE as an afterthought and under-value it.

"It is a complex subject and the lack of clarity and support from government makes the job of schools even harder.

"Some steer through these challenges well but most do not."

The report said it would take a coordinated effort to improve the quality of RE and the government should provide clear expectations about RE provision in schools.

Councillor Jacqui Coogan, part of the city’s SACRE, said while there was a shortage of RE teachers nationally, Wolverhampton was actively seeking out and training new ones.

“As people living in Wolverhampton know, we have a very effective and proactive multi-faith group here, and they are always willing to support our service’s endeavours with regard to this," she added.

The Department for Education was approached for a response.

Update 9 February, 2024: This story was amended to reflect the issue is a national one, not pertinent to Wolverhampton alone.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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