Part II New framework for maintained schools
Chapter VI Religious education F11etc and worship
Exceptions and special arrangements etc.
I171 Exceptions and special arrangements; provision for special schools.
F21
If the parent of a pupil at a community, foundation or voluntary school F13in England requests that he may be wholly or partly excused from receiving religious education given at the school in accordance with the school's basic curriculum, the pupil shall be so excused until the request is withdrawn.
1A
If the parent of any pupil at a community, foundation or voluntary school other than a sixth-form pupil requests that he may be wholly or partly excused from attendance at religious worship at the school, the pupil shall be so excused until the request is withdrawn.
1B
If a sixth-form pupil requests that he may be wholly or partly excused from attendance at religious worship at a community, foundation or voluntary school, the pupil shall be so excused.
2
In F3subsections (1) to (1B)—
a
b
the reference to religious worship in the school includes religious worship which by virtue of paragraph 2(6) of Schedule 20 takes place otherwise than on the school premises.
3
Where in accordance with subsection (1) F4or (1A) a pupil has been wholly or partly excused from receiving religious education or from attendance at religious worship and the F10local authority are satisfied—
a
that the parent of the pupil desires him to receive religious education of a kind which is not provided in the school during the periods of time during which he is so excused,
b
that the pupil cannot with reasonable convenience be sent to another community, foundation or voluntary school where religious education of the kind desired by the parent is provided, and
c
that arrangements have been made for him to receive religious education of that kind during school hours elsewhere,
the pupil may be withdrawn from the school during such periods of time as are reasonably necessary for the purpose of enabling him to receive religious education in accordance with the arrangements.
4
A pupil may not be withdrawn from school under subsection (3) unless the F10local authority are satisfied that the arrangements there mentioned are such as will not interfere with the attendance of the pupil at school on any day except at the beginning or end of a school session (or, if there is only one, the school session) on that day.
5
Where the parent of a pupil who is a boarder at a community, foundation or voluntary school F5and is not a sixth-form pupil requests that the pupil be permitted—
a
to receive religious education in accordance with the tenets of a particular religion or religious denomination outside school hours, or
b
to attend worship in accordance with such tenets on Sundays or other days exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which his parent belongs,
the governing body shall make arrangements for giving the pupil reasonable opportunities for doing so.
F65A
Where a sixth-form pupil who is a boarder at a community, foundation or voluntary school requests that he be permitted—
a
to receive religious education in accordance with the tenets of a particular religion or religious denomination outside school hours, or
b
to attend worship in accordance with such tenets on Sundays or other days exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil belongs,
the governing body shall make arrangements for giving the pupil reasonable opportunities for doing so.
6
F87
Regulations shall make provision for ensuring that, so far as practicable, every pupil attending a community or foundation special school F14in England—
a
receives religious education unless withdrawn from receiving such education in accordance with the wishes of his parent, and
b
attends religious worship unless withdrawn from attendance at such worship—
i
in the case of a sixth-form pupil, in accordance with his own wishes, and
ii
in any other case, in accordance with the wishes of his parent.
F157A
Regulations made by the Welsh Ministers shall make provision for ensuring that, so far as practicable, every pupil attending a community or foundation special school in Wales attends religious worship unless withdrawn from attendance at such worship—
a
in the case of a sixth-form pupil, in accordance with the pupil’s own wishes, and
b
in any other case, in accordance with the wishes of the pupil’s parent.
F98
In this section “sixth-form pupil” means any pupil who—
a
has ceased to be of compulsory school age, and
b
is receiving education suitable to the requirements of pupils over compulsory school age.
Words in Pt. 2 Ch. 6 inserted (30.4.2021) by Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021 (asc 4), ss. 73, 84(1), Sch. 2 para. 32