Introduction

The impacts of education policy and faith-based schools in particular, have constituted a central element of contemporary debates about community cohesion and national identity in the UK. This chapter begins by describing the provision of state-funded faith-based schooling in the UK and how faith-based schools have been conceptualised within public policy discourses around cohesion. It then explores the evidence regarding the impact of faith-based schools on three key dimensions of social cohesion: the inculcation of values; sociospatial segregation; and disparities in educational attainment. This informs an assessment of whether such schools are institutionalising ‘parallel lives’. The discussion then addresses the educational policy challenges related to faith-based schools and provides a comparative summary of policy frameworks and issues in other nations. The chapter concludes by suggesting that state-funded faith-based schools may and should be accommodated within a multicultural society but that this necessitates a greater degree of pragmatism and compromise among faith communities.

Background

Churches were the predominant providers of schooling in the early stages of the move towards universal education in Britain (Meer, 2007). The current arrangements in the constituent parts of the UK are the result of a complex series of historical conflicts and compromises (Judge, 2001). There are currently 4,700 Church of England, 2,400 Catholic, 37 Jewish, 28 Methodist, seven Muslim and one Seventh-day Adventist state-funded schools in Britain, and the first state-funded Hindu school opened in London in September 2008 (Doward, 2006; Meer, 2007). The Labour government has promoted the expansion of faith-based schools in England and Wales and has encouraged independent faith schools to enter the state system (DfES, 2001). Similarly, the Scottish Executive retains its support for state-funded Roman Catholic schools (see Flint, 2007).

England and Wales

In England and Wales the historical position of the Church of England has remained the dominant factor ‘in determining the contours’ between the state and faith-based schools (Judge, 2001, p 466; see Chadwick, 2001, for a detailed account). Throughout the 19th century, Protestant churches were major providers of elementary education, with funded support from the state (Grace, 2001). From 1870 a ‘dual’ system of church and state schools was developed. The 1944 Education Act enabled independent schools to become voluntary aided (facilitating denominational education and worship and religious authority in school administration, including teaching appointments) or voluntary controlled (where there were no financial responsibilities but no denominational worship).