Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the number of publicly funded schools that are teaching creationism.

The Department does not collect data about the number of schools that are teaching creationism. Creationism does not accord with the scientific consensus or the very large body of established scientific evidence; nor does it accurately and consistently employ the scientific method. Outside of science lessons, there is scope for young people to discuss beliefs about the origins of the Earth and living things in religious education, providing that these discussions do not undermine the teaching of the established scientific consensus around evolution.

The Government expects pupils in all state funded schools to study the nature of, and evidence for, evolution by the end of Key Stage 4. The Government’s expectations are set out in the National Curriculum, which maintained schools are required to follow, and in the funding agreements to which academies must adhere. The Department investigates complaints made about schools that are teaching creationism as a scientific theory contrary to the National Curriculum or their funding agreement.