Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Academies regulation and commissioning review advisory group, established by her Department on 29 June 2022, what steps she is taking to balance the freedoms afforded to academies over the curriculum with ensuring pupils have sufficient knowledge and understanding to be able to champion freedom of religion and belief.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

Curriculum matters are not within the scope of the Academies regulation and commissioning review.

Religious education (RE) is a compulsory subject for all state-funded schools, including academies, and must be offered in all year groups. Academies without a religious designation are free to either follow the locally agreed syllabus for their area, or develop their own curriculum, so long as it meets the requirements of the locally agreed syllabus. Their syllabus must reflect that the religious traditions in the UK are, in the main, Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practice of the other principal religions represented in the UK. Academies with a religious designation should teach RE in accordance with their funding agreements and the tenets of their faith.