Ofsted has today published a subject report looking at how religious education (RE) is being taught in England’s schools.
- Leaders are keen to improve the quality of education in RE.
- The RE curriculum is often superficially broad and lacks depth.
- In secondary schools, teachers focus too much on what pupils need to know for exams.
The report draws on evidence from visits to a sample of primary and secondary schools last year.
Inspectors found that leaders have been keen to improve the quality of education in RE. However, evidence shows that there has been little progress since Ofsted’s last subject report in 2013. Today’s report finds there is still a lack of clarity on the curriculum and recommends that government should provide better guidance about what should be taught and when.
While the report notes some examples of stronger practice, it concludes that the RE curriculum in most schools is superficially broad but lacks depth. Where the curriculum tries to cover many religions, pupils generally remember very little. Where the curriculum prioritises depth of study, pupils learn much more.
