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Secondary education

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Original poster

Can a school make Religious Studies GCSE compulsory? Can one withdraw?

207 replies

ParentOfOne · 10/01/2025 17:34

One of the state, non-faith secondary schools we like makes GCSE in Religious Studies compulsory. This is in England.

It is not a deal breaker, but we would like to understand what the rules are.

At the open day, the school said that it's a national requirement. But that's not what the gov uk website says https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/key-stage-3-and-4 , and indeed not all schools even offer RS GCSE. So did the school just lie to us? Not a great sign!

So the question becomes: can a school make RS GCSE compulsory, or can parents object?

I am all for kids learning about religions, but my reservations are:

  • It may be more useful to take other subjects at GCSE; it is still possible to study RS in earlier years without using up a GCSE subject for it
  • No one can know if our child will grow up to be religious or not, but she is the kind of person who brooks no bullshit. The teaching of RS can be dogmatic in some schools.
  • It is fine to study other cultures and religious theories and preferences, but we should also call out what is backward and scientifically unfounded - e.g. when the Catholic Church said that the HIV virus can still pass through condoms, or when some fundamentalists think that evolution is wrong.
  • My concern is therefore twofold: I worry that some of this nonsense might be taught as valid, rather than as un unsubstantiated theory, and I worry that, with her attitude, she would react very badly to the teaching of this nonsense. These concerns are based on the experiences of some friends, in non-faith state schools elsewhere.

The national curriculum

The English national curriculum means children in different schools (at primary and secondary level) study the same subjects to similar standards - it's split into key stages with tests

https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum/key-stage-3-and-4

OP posts:
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TeenToTwenties · 10/01/2025 18:25

durness · 10/01/2025 18:23

If RS is compulsory to 16 then presumably so are history, geography, computing and all sciences?

No. Why would one lead to the other? Logic fail. Grin

HPandthelastwish · 10/01/2025 18:26

Here is the AQA spec Section A teaches the different religions and Section B applies the religious teaching to ethical and other everyday things like family and relationships. RE is fantastic for develop critical thinking and debating skills.

However DDs school do not teach it as a GCSE they teach it alongside other PSHE subjects in a separate block.

KnickerFolder · 10/01/2025 18:27

It was compulsory at my DCs’ schools because it is a compulsory subject to study as part of the national curriculum. Their argument was that if they have to study it, they may as well get a GCSE out of it 🤷‍♀️

It was actually the philosophy, religion and ethics GCSE that they did, as a way to satisfy the national curriculum requirements.

titchy · 10/01/2025 18:28

durness · 10/01/2025 18:23

If RS is compulsory to 16 then presumably so are history, geography, computing and all sciences?

No. English and Maths are, plus PE, PSHE and RE. No others. Actually science maybe compulsory....

CeeceeBloomingdale · 10/01/2025 18:28

It's a good essay subject with ethics and philosophy included as part of it and demonstrates being able to argue a point or see two sides of a debate. It doesn't require you to be religious and you can answer as "a Catholic would" or "a Muslim believes" or "a Silk celebrates...".

bellocchild · 10/01/2025 18:29

When I was doing supply, I used to make it clear that I did not have a religious faith. I would deliver the lesson but say "many people believe" because frankly I found that the content was intended to be taught from a Christian point of view. No schools minded - they were mostly just glad to have a warm body in front of the class...

MollyButton · 10/01/2025 18:29

durness · 10/01/2025 18:23

If RS is compulsory to 16 then presumably so are history, geography, computing and all sciences?

No not necessarily to 16.
But then again parents do not have a legal right to withdraw their children from all Science lessons for example.
RE has a special place in English education law. Which is why efforts are made to make the syllabuses relevant to most people, such as the emphasis on moral questions, and the need to include more than one religious belief system.

Cremeeggtime · 10/01/2025 18:30

It will get you into as many uni courses as History, English, Politics etc.

WildPatience · 10/01/2025 18:30

Sounds like it was either a miscommunication issue or the school lied. Yes it's a national requirement to teach RE, but not a national requirement to do a GCSE in it. However my kid's school does make RE a compulsory GCSE, and they do miss out on a subject choice because of it. The argument is that as they have to teach it, they may as well examine it. I really hope this changes before we get to that stage as I completely disagree with making it compulsory and further restricting an already narrow education at that age.

Gertrudetheadelie · 10/01/2025 18:32

@TeenToTwenties they effectively are though. Students usually have to study the sciences, at least one humanity, one language etc as part of their basket of subjects.

@ParentOfOne as far as adding in comments on the Catholic church - go for it if it is required of the question but otherwise, as others have said, it is wasted time in the examination. You might as well discuss the cons of hereditary monarchy in a question on the Elizabethan religious settlement.

Ribenaberry12 · 10/01/2025 18:35

At the school I work at GCSE RE is compulsory. Schools have to offer some RE so all of ours do the full course GCSE as you might as well get a GCSE out of it if you’re studying.

As I understand it you can withdraw a child from RE but you can’t do so to replace it with something else. So you couldn’t ask if your child could not do RE to do extra maths for example. They either do it or there’s a gap on their timetable. Very, very few at my school withdraw from it cos they just sit in the library revising and the course is actually v interesting. Kids seem to like it and our results are always pretty good.

TeenToTwenties · 10/01/2025 18:38

@Gertrudetheadelie I think science may be needed. But the other 3 mentioned, none are individually compulsory. Progress 8 means schools timetable to force 1, and may also force an mfl too, but they don't have to. Whereas PE is compulsory.

Gertrudetheadelie · 10/01/2025 18:40

@TeenToTwenties yes, sorry. I know that legally they aren't. I just mean that practically speaking students often find them faced with them as artificially compulsory within option choices.

JimHalpertsWife · 10/01/2025 18:41

What is the issue with the school making it mandatory?

durness · 10/01/2025 18:42

RP/S/E sounds a very interesting subject. I find it baffling that it’s placed on a pedestal above history, though. (I’ll concede poor geography as it’s a bit wishy-washy.)

Not sure when this happened but it doesn’t seem to me to be a positive development. And if it’s not compulsory to study all three sciences up to 16…grr.

StopStartStop · 10/01/2025 18:42

They have to go to classes, don't they, so why not take the GCSE?

newmum1976 · 10/01/2025 18:47

I find this really interesting. Neither of my DDs studied RE after year 8, and it’s not even offered as a GCSE at DD2s state school. How could they get away with that if it’s compulsory?

GinBlossom94 · 10/01/2025 18:48

I withdrew my DS from RE (can't remember what it's actually called), he's yr11 and does not go to the lessons, will not be taking the GCSE exam

TeenToTwenties · 10/01/2025 18:52

newmum1976 · 10/01/2025 18:47

I find this really interesting. Neither of my DDs studied RE after year 8, and it’s not even offered as a GCSE at DD2s state school. How could they get away with that if it’s compulsory?

They may have covered it under PSHE or in tutor time

Phineyj · 10/01/2025 19:25

A big chunk of the A-level is philosophy so students wishing to study that or PPE may take it.

Fun fact: business ethics is in the RS A-level but not Economics!

I taught a bit of RS when training to teach Economics and got into trouble for showing a scene from Father Ted in class. No-one minded me showing the Vicar of Dibley though.

LittleGreenDuck · 10/01/2025 19:29

My children's school has either RS or Citizenship as a compulsory GCSE to be taken in Y10. DS did RS, we are not religious at all, but he really enjoyed it. There was a lot of ethics content and if prompted some interesting discussions. I also like that they took it in Y10, so it almost worked as a practice GCSE, he already has one grade 7 under his belt before taking the bulk of exams in Y11 and if he hadn't done well, it wasn't a "core" subject so didn't matter too much. They now use the free periods in Y11 for focused intervention for other subjects.

Have a look at the content and structure of the course. I certainly wouldn't discount a good school because of it.

Harrumphhhh · 10/01/2025 19:50

ParentOfOne · 10/01/2025 18:17

@PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister it is a brilliant GCSE, it’s a brilliant A-level.

How is it a brilliant A-level? What subjects does it let you study at uni?

If we are talking about a generic understanding of religious and non-religious theories, sure, that's very interesting, if done well.

But the (IMHO flawed) English system forces students to specialise in 3-4 subjects at sixth form. The choice of A-level subjects determines the courses one can apply for at uni. What courses does a RS A-level give access to? Aren't there better options, which give access to more courses?

well you could, but you would get no marks because it doesn’t answer the question. It’s the academic subject of religion, not a long rant about your own personal beliefs

Well, now it's you who gets no marks for poor text comprehension! :)
I specifically talked about adding, in addition to (not instead of) answering the question on why, and what I said was not a personal opinion nor a rant, but the factual event that the Catholic Church has in the past stated that the HIV virus passes through the condom, which is scientifically false.

Going off on a tangent about the evils of the Catholic Church is a rant.
Pointing out that the Church has made statements which are factually and scientifically false is not.

Did you mean to be so rude?

OzCalling · 10/01/2025 19:57

Harrumphhhh · 10/01/2025 19:50

Did you mean to be so rude?

Show quote history

I agree with this. It seems OP is just keen to start a fight - both on MN and at her DC’s potential secondary school..

Original poster
ParentOfOne · 10/01/2025 20:00

Thank you all for your comments.
So you have explained that the schools which make RS a compulsory GCSE might or might not let you withdraw, but will not give you the option to replace it with another subject.

I suppose the main question is: do the schools which do not make RS GCSE compulsory give you the option of another subject, then?
Lie I said it's not a dealbreaker per se and it won't be the deciding factor, but I would at least like to understand.

OP posts: