No, the UK isn’t forcing school pupils to study Islam

Viral social media posts are claiming that the UK is forcing children aged nine to 16 to study Islam as one of its main subjects.

Some make over-the-top accusations that the UK’s education system has fallen and that parents should take their children out of school.

Others say that the teaching of Islam will replace Christianity and Hinduism in schools.

While the most prevalent posts share the claims in a negative light, some appear to share them as a good thing to be celebrated.

Either way, the claims are false — there are no credible media outlets reporting on the supposed news, and there’s been no official announcement from the government.

A Google search of whether religious education (RE) is compulsory in the UK takes us to a report by the House of Lords, the country’s upper chamber of parliament, which was published in January 2024 and deals with the quality of religious education in England specifically.

The Lords said that RE is compulsory for all state-funded schools in England, but that it’s not part of the national curriculum, and parents have a legal right to withdraw their children for all or part of the lessons.

It added that pupils can choose to withdraw themselves once they are 18 years of age.

The national curriculum is a set of subjects and standards used by schools so children learn the same things, meaning the teaching of RE can differ from school to school, for example if it’s affiliated with the Church of England.

“Maintained schools without a religious character must follow the syllabus agreed by the local agreed syllabus conference, an occasional body which local authorities,” the report said.

“RE in schools with a religious character must be provided in accordance with the school’s trust deed or, where provision is not made by a trust deed, in accordance with the beliefs of the religion or denomination specified in the order that designates the school as having a religious character,” it continued.

A separate April 2024 report by Ofsted, the government’s education inspection agency for England, found that Christian traditions were the most frequently studied across all age groups.

“This is in keeping with the legal expectation that curriculums should reflect that traditions in England are ‘in the main Christian'”, the report said.

Indeed, the UK’s Education Act 1996 says: “Every agreed syllabus shall reflect the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain.”

The Ofsted also noted that Jewish and Muslim traditions were the next most frequently studied religions in primary school, while Buddhism takes second place in key stage three (pupils aged 11-14).

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The two most common traditions studied in key stages four and five (ages 14-18) are Christianity and Islam, Ofsted said.

While the Department for Education had not responded to our requests for comment at the time of this report, there’s no evidence that schools are being forced to teach Islam as a “main subject”, and plenty that Christianity is the religion that’s most focused on in compulsory RE lessons.