New faith schools in the UK could be required to set aside as much as 50pc of place for pupils from non-religious backgrounds in the event of oversubscription if a judicial review currently being heard in the High Court is successful.
 
This could mean such schools having to turn away children from the faith they were established for.

Secular campaigners have brought a legal challenge against Richmond Council, claiming that its approval of two new Catholic schools is in breach of the law and discriminates against non-Catholic children.

Atheist organisation, the British Humanist Association (BHA) and a group of local activists, including parents, argue that all new state-funded religious schools in the London borough should be prevented from giving preference to pupils of their own faith.

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has personally intervened in the case to back the council, while Cllr Lord True, leader of Richmond Council, has accused the BHA and Richmond Inclusive Schools Campaign (RISC) of using local children as ‘?play things’ in their ideological campaign to stop Church schools?.

The council said that 67 per cent of parents and residents who responded to a consultation on its plans were in favour of Church schools. There is no Catholic secondary school in the area and the Church insists it is responding to local demand.

The BHA say they want to stop the spread of new religious state schools in England. At present about a third of State-funded primary schools are denominational.

If successful, it could mean that traditional faith schools that aimed at believers, could no longer be opened by a local authority without first seeking proposals from those wishing to establish an academy.

A favourable ruling for the BHA would also require new faith academies to reserve at least 50 per cent of places for non-religious pupils, where those schools are oversubscribed.

The BHA is fighting to overturn the council’?s decision to offer a new £8.4 million site to the Catholic Diocese of Westminster to be used for one primary school and one secondary, which are due to open next September.

Andrew Copson, chief executive of the BHA, said the case reflected “a disturbing national pattern”, in which religious groups were being given preferential treatment by local councils through “back-door proposals”.

Voluntary aided faith schools can select pupils solely on the basis of their faith. In Richmond, the new primary school plans to allocate two thirds of its places to Catholics while at the secondary, all places will be selected based on religion.

The two-day judicial review, which represents the first time the new law has been tested, was due to end on Friday.