Religion and Attitudes Towards Faith Schools

The expansion of faith schools in recent years, as part of a broader parental choice and diversity of provision agenda in state-sector education, has been a prominent and divisive issue, both within religious traditions and between religious and secular lobbies. Of course, education has historically been an important battleground for religious groups’ identities and interests, whether the established Church of England, Roman Catholicism, the Nonconformist churches or, more recently, non-Christian faiths. Moreover, the historical and contemporary debate over faith-based schooling has varied in myriad ways across the constituent parts of Britain (and, indeed, in Northern Ireland), reflecting their differing religious compositions and deep-rooted tensions between religious traditions.

The renewed prominence of the faith schools debate as a result of recent government policy has been reflected in various opinion polls conducted to elicit whether faith schools have public backing, and to see whether public perceptions match the claims made by those campaigning on either side of the debate regarding, for example, the (supposed) unfair or biased admissions procedures and policies of faith schools, and their better or worse social and educational outcomes relative to non-faith schools.

Of course, many of the opinion polls on this issue have been covered in previous BRIN posts. This BRIN post reviews the available social survey evidence on religious groups’ attitudes towards faith schools in Britain. It analyses data from the British Social Attitudes surveys (BSA). The main focus is on data from more recent BSA surveys but the discussion starts with a question asked in the BSA 1989 survey:

If you were deciding where to send your children to school, would you prefer a school with children of only your own religion, or a mixed-religion school?

Table 1 shows the full distribution of responses to this question based on religious affiliation (Anglican, Catholic, other Christian or no religion). Catholics stand out for being the most likely to have preferred their children to go to a school of their own religious faith but, even so, this amounts to a just third of Catholic respondents (32.7%). Similar – and very small – proportions of Anglicans, other Christians (including those belonging to the traditional Nonconformist churches and those unaffiliated with a particular tradition) and those with no religious affiliation declared they would prefer to send their children to attend a same-faith school. Around two-thirds of Anglicans, other Christians and those with no affiliation preferred their children to attend a mixed religion school, compared to just under half of Catholics (48.9%). Similar proportions in each group had no preference for either a single faith school or a mixed religion school (nearly a fifth).

Table 1: Preferences for a single religion school or a mixed religion school, by affiliation

Source: BSA 1989 survey. Weighted data.

Do preferences on this question vary within religious groups based on their religious practice? Table 2 shows the distribution of opinion for Anglicans, Catholics and other Christians according to whether they are (i) frequent attenders or (ii) infrequent or non-attenders at church services.

Frequent attendance is defined as going once a month or more. It should be noted that, when religious groups are divided on the basis of attendance or other indicator of religiosity, some of the percentages cited will necessarily be based on small numbers in the samples, so the data should be treated with a suitable degree of caution.

The most notable feature of the table is the markedly greater variation in the views of Catholics based on regularity of religious practice compared to Anglicans and other Christians. Catholics who attend services on a frequent basis were much more likely to express a preference for schools belonging to their own faith (44.7%) compared to those who attended less often or not at all (21.8%). Well over half of the infrequent attenders preferred mixed religion schools compared to just under two-fifths of regular churchgoers.

Within the other Christian group, frequent church goers are also more supportive of single religion schools than mixed religion schools, being twice as likely to choose this preference as infrequent or non-attenders (respectively, 22.3% and 10.8%). However, around two-thirds of both of these groups expressed a preference for mixed religion schools. Amongst other Christians, those who attend church less often (or not at all) are much more likely to say they have no preference either way. Amongst Anglicans, there is much less variation based on religious practice. Those who attend services on a less frequent basis (or not at all) are somewhat more likely to express no preference either way.

Table 2: Preferences for a single religion school or a mixed religion school, attendance by affiliation

Source: BSA 1989 survey. Weighted data.

Note: Percentages sum across the rows.

Are these differences based on affiliation and when groups are divided by religious practice evident in more recent BSA surveys which have asked questions on faith schools? The BSA 2003 and 2007 surveys asked several identical questions on faith schools, which tap into different aspects of the wider societal debate – for example, whether they should be expanded to meet the demands of parents and families from non-Christian minority faiths, and the perceived better (or worse) social and educational outcomes of faith schools compared to other schools in the state sector.

How much do you agree or disagree that … the government should fund single religion schools if parents want them.

How much do you agree or disagree that … if the government funds separate Christian faith schools, it should also fund separate schools for other faiths.

How much do you agree or disagree that … single religion schools have a better quality of education than other schools.

How much do you agree or disagree that … single religion schools give children a better sense of right and wrong than other schools.

Another question, asked only in the 2007 survey, asked:

How much do you support or oppose having some schools that are linked to a particular religious denomination, such as Roman Catholic?

Responses to these questions are given in Table 3, based on religious affiliation (and this time also including those from non-Christian faiths). For each question, Table 3 reports the response option favourable towards faith schools: those who strongly agree or agree that the government should fund non-Christian faith schools; those who strongly agree or agree the government should fund single religion schools; those who strongly agree or agree that single religion schools have a better quality of education; those who strongly agree or agree that single religion schools give children a better sense of right and wrong; and those who strongly support or support schools that are linked to a particular religious denomination. Before looking in detail at any differences based on affiliation, it is worth noting that between 2003 and 2007, possibly as the issue became a more controversial and prominent aspect of the debate over education policy, views in support of faith schools tended to decline across the different groups.

Table 3: Attitudes towards faith schools, by affiliation

Source: BSA 2003 and 2007 surveys. Weighted data.

Looking first at the two questions on government funding of faith schools, it is clear that, in 2003 and 2007, Catholics and those belonging to non-Christian religions are more supportive than Anglicans, other Christians and those with no religion. For example, in 2003, majorities of Catholics and those within non-Christian traditions think that the government should fund faith schools for non-Christian religions; while a majority of the former and a plurality of the latter think the government should, in general, fund faith schools. In terms of the perceived social and educational outcomes of faith schooling, Catholics have the most positive assessments in 2003 and 2007, thinking that faith schools are more likely to provide a better quality of education and to instil a better sense of right and wrong in their pupils. In each case, those belonging to non-Christian religions show the next highest level of positive appraisal. There is a clear divergence in the views of those with and without a religious affiliation, with the latter group much less positive in its views of faith schools. In 2007, 12.6% of those with no affiliation think that such schools provide a better quality of education, while 11.9% think they provide pupils with a better sense of right and wrong.  Positive evaluations are much higher across all religious groups, albeit they are usually not a majority.

The question asked only in the 2007 survey (and which, it should be noted, refers to the Roman Catholic faith by way of example), also sorts out the religious and the non-religious to some extent. Again, those with no religion are less supportive of schools linked to particular religious traditions (21.2%). Even so, support amounts to just a third amongst Anglicans, other Christians and non-Christian faiths, but is considerably higher amongst Catholics, at 58.4%, which may partly reflect the specific wording of the question.

As in Table 2, the religious groups in the 2003 and 2007 surveys were subdivided on the basis of their attendance at services, in order to look at attitudinal variation within traditions. Table 4 reports opinions for the same set of questions shown in Table 3. There is a general tendency for those who are frequent attenders – whether Anglican, Catholic or other Christian – to be more supportive of state funding of faith schools and to have more positive appraisals of what they offer to pupils. The highest levels of support – a majority in each case but one – are registered amongst Catholics who attend church on a frequent basis.

Table 4: Attitudes towards faith schools, attendance by affiliation

 Source: BSA 2003 and 2007 surveys. Weighted data.

As well as attendance, another way of looking at attitudes within religious traditions is on the basis of self-defined religiosity – in this case, how religious individuals are, which was probed in the BSA 2007 survey. For each religious group, respondents have been subdivided into whether they feel (i) very or somewhat religious or (ii) not very or not at all religious. Data are shown in Table 5. Within religious groups, there is marked variation in attitudes towards faith schools on the basis of self-defined religiosity. The general pattern is for those who express a greater degree of religiousness to be more supportive of government funding of faith schools and to have more positive appraisals of what they offer pupils compared to other schools. Amongst Catholics, this is the case for each of the questions. Amongst Anglicans and other Christians, this is also the pattern except for the question on funding faith schools for non-Christian religions, where the differences are much less apparent on the basis of religiosity.  The more religious within each group are also much more likely to support schools linked to a particular denomination (with the greatest divergence amongst Catholics and other Christians).

Table 5: Attitudes towards faith schools, religiosity by affiliation

Source: BSA 2007 survey. Weighted data.

A question in the 2008 BSA survey also asked about support for faith schools. The question was included in the BSA survey as part of the International Social Survey Programme specialist module on religion. The question was worded as follows:

Some schools are for children of a particular religion. Which of the statements on this card comes closest to your views about these schools.

Table 6 reports the full distribution of responses for this question, based on affiliation. Again, Catholics are most supportive of different religious traditions having faith schools (at 63.3%), with support at similar levels amongst Anglicans, other Christians and non-Christian faiths. Interestingly, over a third of those with no religion also support all religious groups being able to have faith schools. There are generally low levels of support for only some religious groups having their own schools (highest at 16.5% for Anglicans). Catholics are least likely to take the view that there should not be any faith schools (21.6%). This view is more common amongst the other religious groups – Anglicans: 36.3%; other Christians: 37.9%; non-Christian: 44.4% – and is held by nearly half of those with no affiliation (48.3%).

Table 6: Attitudes towards religious groups having their own schools, by affiliation

Source: BSA 2008 survey. Weighted data.

Finally, Table 7 shows responses to this question based on attendance within each Christian religious group. For each group, those who are less likely to attend services are more favourable to the view that there should not be any faith schools, highest at over two-fifths for other Christians who go to church (or chapel) infrequently or not at all. Amongst Catholics, support for all groups having their own faith schools varies only a little on the basis of attendance (and is around two-thirds of both groups); whereas, amongst Anglicans and other Christians, frequent attenders are much more likely to express this view. Across each group, the most prevalent opinion is that of allowing all groups to have faith schools with the exception of infrequent or non-attending other Christians, where support for no faith schools is the plurality viewpoint.

Table 7: Attitudes towards religious groups having their own schools, attendance by affiliation

Source: BSA 2008 survey. Weighted data.

Summary

This review of religious groups’ attitudes towards faith schools – across various questions and using different measures of religiosity – points up two noteworthy findings. Firstly, when looking at attitudes on the basis of affiliation, Catholics have tended to hold the most supportive views of faith schools, whether that is for public funding in general or for non-Christian traditions, or in terms of what they offer their pupils compared to other schools. Not surprisingly, those who declare they have no religious affiliation tend to be least favourable towards the claims of faith-based schooling. Secondly, when looking at views within religious groups, it is apparent that the more religious – as manifested in regular attendance and a greater sense of religiousness – have more favourable views of faith schools. Accordingly, the most favourable views are held by more religiously-involved or committed Catholics. There is, then, considerable attitudinal variation within religious groups in terms of support or opposition towards faith schools, and therefore – at the level of ordinary adherents – views do not align with simplistic notions of an overarching religious-secular divide over the appropriate role of religion in the public sphere.

Further reading:

Clements, B. (2010), ‘Understanding public attitudes in Britain towards faith schools’, British Educational Research Journal, 36(6): 953–973.

Patrikios, S. and Curtice, J. (2014), ‘Attitudes Towards School Choice and Faith Schools in the UK: A Question of Individual Preference or Collective Interest?’, Journal of Social Policy, 43(3): 517-534.