In October the Department for Education announced that bursaries for trainee RE teachers were to be cut to zero, despite failing to meet its own recruitment targets for most of the past decade. This comes just when the tide was turning, as when the bursary was introduced last year there was an increase in applications. The training, recruitment and retention of RE teachers is particularly important for Catholic schools, as they draw a large proportion of their Senior Leadership from specialist RE teachers.  

RE has always been compulsory in all schools, and by law the Catholic Bishops set the RE curriculum for Catholic schools. It’s for 10% of curriculum time, with study of other religions like Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and world views for much longer than most non-denominational RE, contributing to community cohesion.  

The government-commissioned Curriculum and Assessment Review has recently recommended RE become part of the national curriculum and no longer be compulsory after age 16. A national curriculum approach which threatens the integrity of Catholic RE is concerning at a time of heightened community tensions, as is removing the requirement to teach RE beyond age 16. Any future curriculum must preserve the long-standing, hard-won freedoms secured for Catholic RE. While it is true that the high quality of Catholic RE isn’t always replicated in non-denominational RE, a national approach to improving non-denominational RE would be a better solution.    

Please use the form below to write to your MP to ask for the reinstatement of the bursary for trainee RE teachers, and to protect Catholic RE.