Lancashire plans to revamp religious education curriculum

It will also have to consider the results of recent legal rulings that concluded that non-religious beliefs should be included in RE lessons. Depending on their status, religious schools must follow a locally agreed RE curriculum or teach the subject under a school trust deed.

Conference members will meet several times over the next 18 months with the aim of agreeing on the new arrangements by spring 2026, before implementation takes place in autumn next year.

According to the conference, which met for the first time this week, its main goal will be to provide a “coherent, clear program” of RE for students aged five to 18.

The curriculum will set out what needs to be taught in each year group to show how knowledge and skills develop at each ‘key stage’, and will set the expected standards for pupils’ achievement.

The Agreed Curriculum Conference includes four groups that form part of Lancashire County Council’s standing advisory committee on religious education, namely the Church of England, other Christian denominations and other religions that reflect the main religious traditions of the region, teachers’ unions. and the local government itself.

The conference will also recommend how much teaching time the new local OD curriculum will require, although this ultimately remains a decision for the schools themselves. The current proposal for Lancashire schools is that RE should make up five per cent of their overall curriculum.

The law requires that RE be taught in all public schools, including academies and free schools. Lancashire’s new curriculum will be automatically used in county council-controlled maintained schools, while academies and free schools will be able to choose whether to adopt it or use an RE curriculum from another provider.

Parents may withdraw their children from RE lessons without giving any reason.

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