Accord is a wide coalition of organisations, including religious groups, humanists, trade unions and human rights campaigners. We share a common view on many issues to do with state-funded schools and believe that the current legislation on faith schools in particular is counter-productive.
We campaign to make admissions and recruitment policies in all state-funded schools free from discrimination on grounds of religion or belief.
We want schools to follow an objective, fair and balanced syllabus for education about religious and non-religious beliefs.
We want accountability under a single inspection regime for Religious Education, Personal, Social & Health (PSHE) education and Citizenship.
We believe all schools should provide their pupils with inclusive, inspiring and stimulating assemblies in place of compulsory acts of worship.
A new report from The Sutton Trust finds that religiously selective faith schools are often among the most socio-economically divisive schools and has urged their admission policies be simplified.
The Accord Coalition has publicly rebuked the recommendation of a Policy Exchange report that Ofsted should let primary faith schools airbrush out LGBT people.
The Welsh Government has announced it will scrap the right of parents to withdraw their children from Religious Education and Relationship & Sexuality Education in state funded schools.
The Government has this morning announced that it still intends to introduce legislation to boost the powers of Ofsted to monitor for and shut down illegally unregistered schools.
Attempts to have Peterborough City Council reconsider its decision to approve a primary faith school that can operate a fully religiously selective admissions policy have failed, meaning the school is set to open for September 2022.