A REVIEW OF THE PERFORMANCE OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION REPORT CARD
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
IT SHOULD ENSURE THAT ALL PUPILS IN ALL SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES AND COLLEGES HAVE ACCESS TO GOOD QUALITY RE
IN 2014 THE GOVERNMENT OVER-ALLOCATED PLACES FOR TEACHER TRAINING IN RE
BUT DID NOT PROVIDE NECESSARY FINANCE TO POTENTIAL STUDENTS TO SEE RE TEACHING AS FINANCIALLY REWARDING
AS PART OF REFORMS TO NON-EBACC SUBJECTSOFQUAL HAS BEEN WORKING WITH OTHERS TO IMPROVE THE CONTENT AND RIGOUR OF THE RELIGIOUS STUDIES
GCSE AND A LEVEL
IS NOT A SOFT OPTION
A DURHAM UNIVERSITY STUDY SHOWED THAT A LEVEL RS IS
GOVERNMENT COULD
DO BETTER AND APPLY WHAT IT HAS LEARNED SINCE 2010
IT NEEDS TO TAKE A LONGER TERM VIEW OF RE AND RECOGNISE THE POSITIVE ROLE IT PLAYS IN SOCIETY AS WELL AS A SUBJECT
WORTH STUDYING
GOVERNMENT SHOULD COLLABORATE WITH OTHER STAKEHOLDERS TO IMPROVE THE AVAILABILITY OF SPECIALIST RE TEACHERS WHICH WILL HAVE THE ADDED BENEFITS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TEACHING
EMORE EFFORTREQUIRED
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
AROUND ONE THIRD OF SCHOOLS VISITED BY OFSTED WERE
RE IS TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE TAUGHT BY A TEACHER WITH NO POST-A LEVEL QUALIFICATION IN THE SUBJECT OVER ONE IN FIVE
SECONDARY SCHOOLS DO NOT OFFER RE AT GCSE
22% LACK OF SUBJECT EXPERTISE
IDENTIFIED AS HAVING A
IN KEY STAGE414.7% VS29.6%
OFSTED FINDINGS SHOW US THAT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SHOULD BE TAUGHT BY WELL-TRAINED TEACHERS WITH STRONG SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE, YET TEACHERS RECEIVE LITTLE
CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
46% 73%
SPECIALIST RE TEACHERS
SPEC
IALIST HISTORY TEACHERS
HISTORY TEACHERS
RE TEACHERS
C
IN SOCIETY
OF THE POPULATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES BELIEVE HIGH QUALITY RE PROMOTES
IN 2014 A REPORT BY A CROSS-PARTY GROUP OF MPS FOUND THAT RE PLAYS
51%
RELIGIONAND BELIEF
TOLERANCE, RESPECT AND MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
CONTINUE TO TOP THE
NEWS AGENDA AND RE HELPS YOUNG PEOPLE MAKE SENSE
OF IT.
A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN
AND MISUNDERSTANDING.REDUCING RELIGIOUS CONFLICT
IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO HAVE
ON – AND PROVIDE BENEFITS TO – SOCIETYA POSITIVE IMPACT A
IS A POPULAR AND ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS SUBJECT. BOTH
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITIES INCLUDE RS IN THE TOP LEVEL LIST OF
VALUE OF THE QUALIFICATION
HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED SINCE 2003 – UP BY 110%! THAT’S MORE THAN ANY OTHER ARTS, HUMANITY OR SOCIAL SCIENCE SUBJECT.
WHO TOOK UP A PLACE TO READ MATHS
AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY IN 2011
HAD A RELIGIOUS STUDIES A LEVEL(MORE THAN HAD ECONOMICS, PHYSICS OR BUSINESS)
20%
OF STUDENTS
GCSE RELIGIOUS STUDIESFULL COURSE ENTRIES IN ENGLAND INCREASED BY
RELIGIOUS STUDIES A LEVEL ENTRIES
+110%
THE RUSSELL GROUPOF TOP UK UNIVERSITIES DESCRIBES RS A LEVEL AS
SUITABLE PREPARATION FOR UNIVERSITY GENERALLY
GENERALLY SUITABLE ARTS A LEVELSA
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
TEACHER TRAINING
OFSTED’S FRAMEWORK EXPECTS THAT PUPILS WILL BE PREPARED FOR LIFE IN
THE DECISION TO NOT COUNT RE IN
PERFORMANCE TABLES
DOWN 67% SINCE 2012
HAS LED TO A DROP IN RE GCSE SHORT COURSE ENTRIES IN ENGLAND
-67%
BURSARIES WERE REINTRODUCED IN 2015 BUT AT £4,000 THEY ARE WORTH LESS THAN HALF [44%] OF BURSARIES FOR
STEM SUBJECTS [£9,000]
85,000 FEWER STUDENTS ARE STUDYING ANY RELIGIOUS STUDIES GCSE IN 2015 COMPARED TO 2012 [A FALL OF OVER 20%]
BUT IT IS FAILING TO REPORT ON SCHOOLS THAT ARE NEGLECTING THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES IN RE
MODERN BRITAIN
IN 2013/14 OFSTED REPORTED ON ONLY ONE SUCH SCHOOL, LESS THAN OF INSPECTIONS
0.1%
D
MINISTERIALEFFORT
PUBLIC STATEMENTSOF SUPPORT ARE NOT ALWAYS BACKED UP WITH50%
I THINK THAT RE HAS SUFFERED AS A RESULT OF MY BELIEF THAT THE
PROTECTION OF IT [IN THE 1944 EDUCATION ACT] WAS SUFFICIENT AND
MICHAEL GOVE MP, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, JULY 2013
NICKY MORGAN MP, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION, NOVEMBER 2014
MINISTERS HAVE RECOGNISED THE NEED FOR CHILDREN TO SHOW MUTUAL RESPECT AND TOLERANCE OF THOSE WITH DIFFERENT FAITHS AND BELIEFS; YET THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION’S GUIDANCE FAILS TO MENTION RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
AT ALL.
A SERIES OF MISSED OPPORTUNITIES AND AN INCONSISTENT APPROACH FROM MINISTERS
SUPPORTIVE ACTION
C
CAN HELP ACHIEVE THE
Revised GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2013 to 2014 www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4 School Workforce Survey in England, November 2013 www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2013 Joint Council for Qualifications www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/a-levels, www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/gcses National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE): An analysis of a survey of teachers on the impact of the EBacc on student opportunity to study GCSE RS, July 2014Department of Education: Promoting fundamental British values as part of Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development in schools, November 2014 SEPTEMBER 2015 Ic
ons
cour
tesy
of F
ont A
wes
ome,
Oct
icon
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ecte
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Hansard, 18 March 2014 www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140318/text/140318w0002.htm#140318w0002.htm_wqn65 All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education: RE and Good Community Relations, March 2014Ofsted: Realising the potential, October 2013Russell Group: Informed Choices www.russellgroup.org/InformedChoices-latest.pdf CEM Centre, Durham University: Relative difficulty of examinations in different subjects, July 2008 www.score-education.org/media/3194/relativedifficulty.pdf YouGov survey of 2038 adults in England and Wales, July 2014
SOUR
CES
19% BETWEEN 2012 AND 2014
OFF %AC
9 87
654
321
42%