National Curriculum: Religious Education

Lord Bishop of Winchester Excerpts

Thursday 30th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

It is a very wide-ranging subject, and students also need to be taught to have critical appreciation of what they read in the media, for example. We need to make sure that every aspect of the curriculum picks up on the points my noble friends have raised, but there are other aspects in schools such as restorative practice, resilience, and nurturing and supporting young people wherever they are, as well as the subjects that are taught through the curriculum. We are going through a very difficult time, and we owe it to all our young people to make sure they get the support and subject input they need.

[The Lord Bishop of Winchester]

My Lords, I was pleased to hear the Second Church Estates Commissioner confirm recently in another place that the Government are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Truro review, which I wrote several years ago at the invitation of the then Foreign Secretary. I have to say that that came as a pleasant surprise to me. In view of the significant and egregious growth in international violations of freedom of religion or belief in the intervening years, does the Minister agree with me that we need to ensure a high level of religious literacy among our young people and that professionally delivered RE is critical to that end?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I must confess that I do not know the Truro report in detail, but I am happy to look at it. The right reverend Prelate raises very important points. The positive thing is that religious education, while not compulsory, is still a very popular subject at GCSE and A-level. We need to make sure that it is promoted and that there is a real understanding of its relevance and importance in today’s climate.