Is religious education statutory or non-statutory?
RE is a statutory subject and should be taught in all schools. The legal document for RE in maintained community schools and voluntary controlled schools is the local agreed syllabus. The QCA programmes of study, based on the non-statutory national framework for RE, are non-statutory only in the sense that schools are not obliged to base their RE on it, although many do. Academies should teach RE according to their funding agreement. Many of them use the local agreed syllabus or the QCA programmes of study.Voluntary aided schools and academies with a religious designation must follow the syllabus approved by the relevant religious authority.
RE is a statutory subject in the basic school curriculum and should be taught in all schools. The legal requirement for RE in maintained community schools and voluntary controlled schools is the locally agreed syllabus. The programme of study is included for illustrative purposes so that SACREs can develop their locally agreed syllabus to fit with the rest of the curriculum and schools can plan a whole curriculum. Voluntary aided schools and academies with a religious designation must follow the syllabus approved by their governing body.
