RE lessons will have to cover atheism after High Court ruling that Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's move to omit non-religious views was unlawful
- High Court rules atheism should be included on national school syllabus
- Mr Justice Warby said Education Secretary Nicky Morgan made 'error of law' in omitting non-religious views from the RE curriculum
- The minister had argued pupils should only study religious beliefs
- But families and British Humanist Association appealed against the move
Atheism will go on the school syllabus for RE lessons after the High Court ruled Education Secretary Nicky Morgan's move to omit non-religious views from lessons was unlawful.
The ruling in London was a victory for three families, supported by the British Humanist Association, who claimed Nicky Morgan had taken a 'skewed' approach and was failing to reflect the diverse nature of the UK in schools.
The government minister had previously defended the omission, arguing students should focus on studying religious beliefs because of the nature of the subject.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, pictured, argued RE should focus on teaching students about religious beliefs due to the nature of the subject when she omitted non-religious views from the syllabus earlier this year
Lawyers for the Government minister had argued no laws in the UK or Europe required equal weight to be given to both religious and non-religious views in a school curriculum.
But, allowing the families' application for judicial review, Mr Justice Warby, sitting in London, ruled there had been 'a breach of the duty to take care that information or knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in a pluralistic manner'.
Changes to RE GCSE subject content were announced last February, leading to complaints over the priority given to religious views - in particular Buddhism, Christianity, Catholic Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.
Earlier this year, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was among 28 religious leaders who urged the Government to rethink plans to leave out humanism in the new qualification.
The families seeking judicial review included one from Cumbria and one from Kent who cannot be identified.
The third family is Kate Bielby, of Frome, Somerset, and her daughter Daisy.
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David Wolfe QC, for the families, told the judge at a recent hearing there was widespread concern 'about the Secretary of State's failure to comply with her duty of neutrality and impartiality as between religious and other beliefs'.
They argued that, although some schools rely on the RE GCSE to discharge their duty to provide religious education at key stage 4 for 14 to 16-year-olds, provision has been made for non-religious beliefs to be studied and what is in a school's curriculum is a matter 'for local determination' by individual school authorities.
Ruling in favour of the humanists, the judge said: 'It is not of itself unlawful to permit an RE GCSE to be created which is wholly devoted to the study of religion.'
But when the February 15 2015 decision was made to issue new subject content an assertion was made that such a GCSE 'will fulfil the entirety of the state's RE duties'.
The judge said that was an assertion likely to be accepted and acted on by schools and their governing authorities.
'The assertion thus represents a breach of the duty to take care that information or knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in a pluralistic manner.'
As a result, the Education Secretary 'has made an error of law in her interpretation of the education statutes'.
The assertion contained 'a false and misleading statement of law which encourages others to act unlawfully'.
The judge made clear that his conclusions related to schools or academies which did not have a religious character.
Different provisions were made under the 1998 Schools Standards and Framework Act for schools that did have a religious character.
Schools will now have the option to teach non-religious views in RE lessons (picture posed by models)
The judge said: 'I have not found it necessary to address in this judgment the hypothetical question of whether the assertion might be true and lawful if and in so far as it relates to schools or academies with a religious character.'
A Department for Education (DfE) spokesman said: 'Our new RE GCSE ensures pupils understand the diversity of religious beliefs in Great Britain through the study of more than one religion, an important part of our drive to tackle segregation and ensure pupils are properly prepared for life in modern Britain.
'It is also designed to ensure pupils develop knowledge and understanding of both religious and non-religious beliefs.
'Today's judgment does not challenge the content or structure of that new GCSE and the judge has been clear it is in no way unlawful.
'His decision will also not affect the current teaching of the RS GCSE in classrooms.
'We will carefully consider the judgment before deciding on our next steps.'
The British Humanist Association (BHA) said the judge had produced 'a landmark judgment' of fundamental importance to the teaching of religious and non-religious beliefs in schools.
The BHA said in a statement: 'While the Government will not be immediately compelled to change the GCSE, religious education syllabuses around the country will now have to include non-religious worldviews such as humanism on an equal footing, and pupils taking a GCSE will also have to learn about non-religious world views alongside the course.
'The Department for Education will now have to take action in response to the judgment against it.
'Further meetings will now take place between the parties to decide what steps must now be taken to ensure non-religious world views such as humanism are included.
Kate Bielby, one of the parents who won the ruling, said: 'My daughter and I are delighted by today's decision and the clear statement that it makes in support of equality of religion and belief.
'It is long past time that the beliefs of the non-religious were treated on an equal footing with religions in the school curriculum.
'I am confident that whatever changes are introduced on the back of this judgement, Religious Studies will be a fairer, more inclusive subject, benefiting all children whatever their religious or non-religious background.'
BHA chief executive Andrew Copson described the judgment as 'a stunning victory'.
He said: 'We have made the case for many decades that the school curriculum on religions should include major non-religious world views such as humanism. It is great news that the court has now said the law is with us.
'This is a stunning victory for the three humanist families who stood up to the Government on this issue. '
Mr Copson said BHA now wanted to work with the Government 'to ensure that the changes required by the judgement are implemented'.
He hoped the Government would use the ruling 'as an opportunity to improve the GCSE for the benefit of all children.'
Mr Copson said: 'Continuing to exclude the views of a huge number of Britons, in the face of majority public opinion and all expert advice, would only be to the detriment of education in this country and a shameful path to follow.'
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