Welcome improvement in religious education

17 Jun 2007

The report finds that some progress has been made in enhancing the provision for RE in recent years. Much greater consensus exists about the nature and purpose of the subject, fewer schools fail to meet the statutory requirement to teach RE and in many schools the profile of RE is positive. Pupils’ achievement in RE in primary schools has improved since 2001.

However, achievement at Key Stage 3 remains very inconsistent and too much teaching at Key Stage 3 is unchallenging. Aspects of teaching, assessment, curriculum and leadership and management are not good enough in many secondary schools.

The report, Making sense of religion: a report on religious education in schools and the impact of locally agreed syllabuses, calls for a review of the current statutory position of RE. At present RE is placed outside the National Curriculum with all 151 local authorities having responsibility for developing their own locally agreed syllabus.

Inspectors found that teaching methods tend to encourage pupils to adopt standard, mechanistic responses to the issues they study. They learn to pass the examination, but learning is in danger of trivialising issues of global human significance rather than developing a deeper understanding of religious perspectives on life.

The report argues that RE should not ignore controversy or the changes in the role and significance of religion in the modern world. Pupils should be taught that religion is complex, that its impact is ambiguous and should be given the opportunity to explore that ambiguity.

Miriam Rosen, Director of Education, said:

“The improvements in RE over the last few years are to be welcomed but more needs to be done if the subject is to develop in students a more profound understanding of the significance of religious commitment and diversity and its impact on society.”

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