The Conservative government would consider allowing atheists to set up state-funded schools Education Secretary Michael Gove has said.

Mr Gove said he would be “interested” to look at ideas about setting up schools from figures such as leading atheist Professor Richard Dawkins.

Mr Dawkins said he approved of the idea of setting up such schools last month.

The Coalition have published plans to give parents’ groups, teachers and charities powers to open their own schools which would be funded by the state.

Addressing the Commons education select committee, Mr Gove said parents opposed to faith-based schools should be properly catered for in the state education system.

“One of the most striking things that I read recently was a thought from Richard Dawkins that he might want to take advantage of our education legislation to open a new school which was set up on an explicitly atheist basis,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be my choice of school, but the whole point about our education reforms is that they are, in the broad sense of the word, small “l”, liberal. That they exist to provide that greater degree of choice.”

Around a third of the 21,000 state primaries and secondaries in England are currently faith schools. The majority are Anglican or Roman Catholic, with small numbers of Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu schools.

By law, all other schools must provide religious education and stage a compulsory Christian assembly every day, although parents have the power to withdraw children.

Mr Gove, whose two children attend primary faith schools, told the cross-party group of MPs that he “recognised that there are some people who explicitly do not want their children educated in a faith-based setting”.

He said: “One of the principles behind our education reforms is to give people the maximum amount of choice so that those people, and they may not themselves necessarily have a very strong religious faith, but who believe that the ethos and values of faith-based education are right for their child, have that choice but others who want a different approach can take it as well.”

Speaking afterwards, Mr Gove said: “If Prof Dawkins wants to set up a school we would be very interested to look at an application.”