Time to Flip the Switch: An Opt-In Model for Religious Education in Controlled Schools

El Cavador is a Slugger reader from Belfast

A follow-up analysis to ‘The Irony of Integration: How a Progressive Ideal Can Impede Progress in a Transitional Society’.

Northern Ireland has already acknowledged the importance of societal default settings. Dáithí’s Law (which came into effect on 1 June 2023) amended the organ donation framework by shifting from an opt-in to an opt-out model after it became clear that the previous default was misaligned with public sentiment: most people supported donation but had not registered. The policy change acknowledged a simple behavioural truth—defaults shape outcomes.

The same logic, although inverted, applies to religious education in controlled schools.

Survey and interview data indicate that many minority-faith and non-religious families are uncomfortable with confessional Christian instruction. Yet only 1.2% opt out. The current system assumes Christian formation is the appropriate default for all pupils, leaving families with different convictions to take deliberate steps to exclude their children. The Supreme Court has now confirmed that this arrangement is unlawful. The appropriate response, therefore, is to invert the presumption: offer inclusive Religion and Worldviews Education to all pupils by default, with confessional instruction available only to those who explicitly opt in.

The Demographic Case

Parents for Inclusive Education (PfIE) recently obtained the Department of Education’s (DE) Religion Statistics for 2024/25 via FOI. These data clearly show that controlled schools no longer serve primarily Protestant populations.

Source: DENI School Census 2024/25 (via FOI). n=79,672 pupils.

In controlled primaries, 47.4% of pupils are non-Protestant—nearly 38,000 children. The ‘No Religion’ category alone (22.2%) exceeds the combined share of Catholics, Other Christians, Other Religions, and Unclassified. But the Core Syllabus—written by the four main Christian churches—presumes Bible-based instruction as the appropriate default for everyone.

The Legal Case

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Re JR87 [2025] UKSC 40 (judgment of 19 November 2025) renders the existing arrangement unsustainable. The Court unanimously determined that the instruction of Religious Education (RE) in accordance with the Core Syllabus contravenes Article 2 of Protocol 1, in conjunction with Article 9, of the European Convention on Human Rights. The benchmark is clear: teaching must be delivered objectively, critically, and pluralistically. Confessional Christian instruction cannot plausibly meet that standard.

The relevant standard is whether RE is delivered in an ‘objective, critical and pluralistic manner’. Confessional Christian instruction manifestly fails this test.

Critically, the Court rejected the argument that parental withdrawal provides adequate protection. Lord Stephens identified three mechanisms through which withdrawal places an ‘undue burden’ on families:

• Stigmatisation: The applicant would have been the only child withdrawn in her small school, marked as different, subject to peer pressure
• Compelled disclosure: Parents feel obliged to reveal their philosophical convictions during discussions about ‘alternative arrangements’
• Deterrent effect: The combination deters most parents from seeking withdrawal

The empirical evidence confirms this. Queen’s University Belfast’s ‘Religion and Worldviews Education for All’ report (2025) found that only 1.2% of children are withdrawn, despite the demographic data suggesting far more families have concerns. Parents described withdrawal as an ‘impossible dilemma’:

• “1.2% children are withdrawn, but many, many other children are not withdrawn because their parents feel they do not want to ‘other’ them.”
• “She does not want to be separated from her friends… I don’t want her feeling like she’s the odd one out.”

The alternative provision does not help. One parent described it as:

• “literally just colour in sheets at the back of the classroom.”

The Opt-In Solution

The parallel with organ donation is instructive. Before Dáithí’s Law, the consent rate in Northern Ireland was 64%—not because 36% of families opposed donation, but because the default setting did not align with actual sentiment. Many families who supported donation had not registered. The legislative response was to presume consent (with appropriate safeguards), requiring those who disagreed to opt out explicitly.

With RE, the dynamic is reversed, but the principle remains the same. The current default presumes that confessional Christian instruction is appropriate for all pupils. Families who disagree must navigate the withdrawal process—with all the stigmatisation, disclosure, and deterrent effects the Supreme Court identified. The low withdrawal rate (1.2%) does not reflect satisfaction; it demonstrates the unpalatability of the alternative.

The solution is to invert the presumption:

This approach strengthens, rather than weakens, freedom of religion: confessional instruction becomes a meaningful choice rather than a statutory assumption.

This is not hypothetical. Wales has already implemented this approach. Their Religion, Values and Ethics curriculum is explicitly designed so that ‘no one would need to withdraw’. In schools without a religious character, the parental right of withdrawal was removed because the content meets human rights standards.

Addressing the Objections

“This is an attack on Protestant heritage.” It is not. An opt-in model does not prevent Christian families from accessing faith formation—it simply requires them to choose it. The transferor churches could continue offering chaplaincy, school visitors, and confessional programmes for families who value them. Protestant identity does not depend on requiring non-Protestant children to sit through instruction they do not believe in.

“There is no demand for change.” The Queen’s survey found 65% of respondents supported RE that helps pupils understand different religious worldviews. Even among Protestant respondents—the group most satisfied with current arrangements—over half agreed. The 1.2% withdrawal rate reflects the unpalatability of opting out, not satisfaction with the status quo.

“The churches have always written the syllabus.” They have. But when 47% of controlled primary pupils are not Protestant, that monopoly is no longer democratically defensible. The new syllabus required by JR87 should involve educationalists, minority faith representatives, and non-religious groups—not just the four main churches.

The Governance Connection

This analysis connects to the patterns documented in previous articles regarding ‘Other’-majority schools and governance legitimacy.

At Belmont Primary School, 71% of pupils are designated as ‘Other’, yet four Board members represent the Protestant Transferor Churches. At Holy Rosary PS—where 54% are now ‘Other’—four Board members represent the Catholic Church. The sectoral framework assumes schools serve communities affiliated with their ethos. When majorities explicitly choose ‘Other’, that assumption collapses.

The same logic applies to the curriculum. The Core Syllabus presumes Christian formation as the appropriate default. However, 17,724 primary pupils in controlled schools identify as having ‘No Religion’. These families lack representation in the bodies responsible for determining the RE their children receive and must proactively remove their children from the default provision if they object.

Conclusion

Northern Ireland acknowledged, in accordance with Dáithí’s Law, that defaults influence outcomes and that presumptions can be restructured to reflect public sentiment more accurately. The same principle applies to religious education.

The current system implicitly presumes that confessional Christian instruction is appropriate for all individuals, with withdrawal considered an infrequent exception. However, given that 47% of the monitored primary pupils are not Protestant and assuming that the Supreme Court has declared the arrangement unlawful, this presumption is no longer sustainable.

An opt-in model for confessional instruction, combined with inclusive Religion and Worldviews Education as the default, offers a way forward that respects both diversity and faith. It requires no family to ‘other’ their child. It provides a genuine choice for those seeking faith formation. And it brings Northern Ireland into compliance with its human rights obligations.

The numbers are precise. The law is clear. The precedent exists. The only question is whether the DE will follow the evidence and flip the switch.

Data sources: DENI Granular Religion Statistics 2024/25 (obtained via FOI by Parents for Inclusive Education NI); Re JR87 [2025] UKSC 40; Nelson, J. and Loader, R. (2025) ‘Religion and Worldviews Education for All’, Queen’s University Belfast; Department of Health (2020) Public Consultation on Statutory Opt-Out System for Organ Donation.