Education Reform Act 1988

85 Religious education in former controlled schools

(1) This section applies to a grant-maintained school which was a controlled school immediately before it became a grant-maintained school; but the provisions of this section are subject to section 87 of this Act.

(2) Where the parents of any pupils in attendance at a school to which this section applies have requested (whether before or after the school became a grant-maintained school) that they may receive religious education—

(a) in accordance with any provisions of the trust deed relating to the school; or

(b) where provision for that purpose is not made by such a deed, in accordance with the practice observed in the school before it became a controlled school;

the foundation governors shall, unless they are satisfied that owing to special circumstances it would be unreasonable so to do, make arrangements for securing that such religious education is given to those pupils at the school during not more than two periods in each week.

(3) In the case of a school to which this section applies the provision for religious education for pupils at the school which is required by section 2(1)(a) of this Act to be included in the school’s basic curriculum shall be provision for religious education—

(a) in accordance with any arrangements made under subsection (2) above; or

(b) subject to any such arrangements, in accordance with the appropriate agreed syllabus.

(4) Subject to section 88(3) of this Act, for the purposes of subsection (3) above “the appropriate agreed syllabus” is, in relation to a school to which this section applies or to any pupils at the school, the agreed syllabus which immediately before the school became a grant-maintained school was adopted under Schedule 5 to the 1944 Act for use in the school or for those pupils.

(5) No person shall be disqualified by reason of his religious opinions, or of his attending or omitting to attend religious worship, from being employed (otherwise than as a teacher) for the purposes of a school to which this section applies.

(6) No teacher in a school to which this section applies shall receive any less emolument or be deprived of, or disqualified for, any promotion or other advantage by reason of the fact that he gives religious education or by reason of his religious opinions or of his attending religious worship.