The Department for Education has published the Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report. The following statement has been issued by the AULRE executive committee.
We welcome and celebrate the significant attention Religious Education (RE) has received in the final report of the Curriculum and Assessment Review (CAR), the recommendation that ‘the Government adds RE to the national curriculum in due course’ (CAR, p.111) and to remove the EBAC accountability measure, which so negatively impacted RE provision in secondary schools (CAR, p. 127).
We welcome and celebrate recognition of ‘the role that religion, belief and values play in local, national, and international events’, and that therefore RE ‘continues to be vital for children and young people to have access to high-quality RE’ (CAR, p.108).
We welcome and celebrate the recommendation to review and update all Programmes of Study – and GCSE Subject Content – to include stronger representation of the diversity that makes up our modern society, allowing more children to see themselves in the curriculum (CAR, p.52).
We also welcome the recommendation that the Government invites the sector to establish an independent task and finish group made up of representatives from faith bodies, secular groups and experts from the teaching and wider education sector, to develop a draft RE curriculum (CAR, p.110). AULRE would welcome the opportunity to contribute to this Task and Finish group.
However, we raise concerns that a refreshed National Curriculum is to retain much of the approach to curriculum dominating the last decade and not achieved equity, in particular a ‘knowledge-rich approach, ensuring skills are developed in conjunction with knowledge …appropriate for each subject discipline’. In addition to assumptions in this statement about what education is and what it should do, such positioning presents particular problems for religious education (See Elton-Chalcraft, Hand, Cooling and Hannam (2025) (2)). It risks reducing what is taught to an essentialised ‘substantive knowledge’ assuming religion to be beliefs and practices alone. Heavy dependence on knowledge risks making sweeping assumptions about what religion is and what it is to live a religious life, distorting how religion is represented and chancing continued misunderstandings. Further, questions around ‘whose knowledge’ abound, skewing the conversation towards epistemological questions rather than existential ones – which are the heart of education; questions of human existence and how we can live well in the world together. Knowledge is not the only significant aspect of RE.
In addition, we note that HOW RE is taught is as important as content and children and young people’s voices must also be actively heard. We raise several associated concerns therefore regarding (i) RE teacher recruitment, (ii) the closure of ITE institutions training specialist teachers of RE (ii) the closure of university departments of Religious Studies, Theology and Philosophy upon which high quality RE also depends. Whilst we recognise these matters are outside the scope of the CAR, they are vital to be brought to the attention of government to ensure first-class RE for all.
AULRE actively supports and encourages the best educational research in RE, as required to secure a world-class National Curriculum for RE. Securing local capacity to respond to changes in society and world issues vital. AULRE remains committed to educational change for our subject.
Dr Patricia Hannam. Chair AULRE. p.hannam@exeter.ac.uk
Ruth Flanagan. Vice Chair AULRE. R.Flanagan@exeter.ac.uk
Dr Sean Whittle. Executive Chair AULRE. sean.whittle1@stmarys.ac.uk
1 AULRE consists of educationalists and scholars from diverse backgrounds taking independent positions on matters of educational theory and practices. This response is authored by the chairs of AULRE.
2 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2025.2548522