Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 41 of the Annual Report of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2022-23, published on 23 November 2023, if he will publish additional non-statutory guidance on religious education syllabus content in schools.

Religious education (RE) is an important part of a school’s curriculum and can contribute to a young person’s personal, social, and academic development. When done well, it can develop children’s knowledge of British values and traditions, help them better understand those of other countries, and refine pupils’ ability to construct well-informed, balanced, and structured arguments. This is why is it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18.

The department read Ofsted’s 2023 annual report with interest and is committed to ensuring high-quality provision of RE in schools. In order to improve teaching quality, we are offering a £10,000 bursary for RE trainee teachers starting initial teacher training courses in the academic year 2024/25. The department have published this information on the ‘Get Into Teaching’ website and will be marketing the offer to prospective teachers through other channels.

To support teachers when they are in post, and to ensure high standards and consistency of RE teaching, RE resources will be procured by Oak National Academy during the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials for RE. This will ensure that high-quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting both teachers and pupils, should schools opt to use them. Oak RE resources will be available for teaching from autumn 2024, with full packages expected to be available by autumn 2025.

The department also continues to offer eight-week subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses in the academic year 2023/24 for candidates who have the potential to become outstanding teachers but need to increase their subject knowledge. The eight-week SKE course, available in religious education, can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis but must be completed before qualified teacher status can be recommended and awarded. Eligible candidates could be entitled to a SKE bursary of £175 per week to support them financially whilst completing their SKE course.

More information on these courses is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/subject-knowledge-enhancement-an-introduction.

The department engages closely with key stakeholders within the RE sector, including the National Association of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (NASACRE) and the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE). The department also welcomes the work that the Religious Education Council (REC) has done to assist curriculum developers by publishing its National Content Standard for RE in England.

The department has no plans to publish additional non-statutory guidance on RE syllabus content in schools.