Faith school

This article is about the UK term. For other uses, see Religious school.

A faith school is a school in the United Kingdom that teaches a general curriculum but which has a particular religious character or formal links with a religious or faith-based organisation. The term is most commonly applied to state-funded faith schools, although many independent schools also have religious characteristics.

There are various types of state-funded faith school, including Voluntary Aided (VA) schools, Voluntary Controlled (VC) schools, and Faith Academies.

Schools with a formal faith designation may give priority to applicants who are of the faith, and specific exemptions from Section 85 of the Equality Act 2010 enable them to do that.[1][2] However, state-funded faith schools must admit other applicants if they cannot fill all of their places and must ensure that their admission arrangements comply with the School Admissions Code.[1][3]

Note that legislation varies between the countries of the United Kingdom since education is a devolved matter.

  1. ^ a b "Faith schools: Maintained faith schools". Department for Education (2011-12-06). Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  2. ^ "Equality Act 2010". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. ^ "School admissions code". gov.uk. Department for Education. Retrieved 22 April 2014.