Shaping the future of religious education in Northern Ireland

This means that they want to hear the views of the public on what should be taught in the RE syllabus and how it should be taught. These responses will then inform the work of a group of experts, teachers and school leaders which has been set up to take the Review forward. This review is not about Collective Worship in schools or the Christian ethos of schools.

This review of the RE syllabus follows a Supreme Court judgement in November 2025 which found that the current syllabus did not teach RE in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner.

You can read our full response to the Supreme Court judgement here. Remember that this judgement also clearly affirmed that ​“historically and today, Christianity is the most important religion in Northern Ireland”.

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This consultation is open to everyone. However, it may be of particular interest to parents, teaching staff, School governors, churches and religious groups and pupils themselves.

Some people will have lots of expert knowledge and experience of teaching or even teaching religious education, while many others will simply bring their own opinions and experiences.

The call for evidence begins with some short introductory text and then you click a link to begin an online survey. There are only seven questions in the survey, and only a few are substantive.

Some of the core questions ask how religious education can foster analytical skills, evaluate arguments objectively, retain Christianity as the central focus while engaging with a diverse and plural range of religious and non-religious views and promote tolerance and respect. You may wish to have a look at the questions and then take some time to pray and prepare your answers which you can then cut and paste into the relevant boxes.

There is also space near the end for you to provide any other comments. Alternatively, you can write your own response and email it to re.​review@​education-​ni.​gov.​uk

The consultation is open right now and remains open until 20 March 2026 – so that’s a short period of just over three weeks in total.

This is a really important opportunity to help shape the RE syllabus in Northern Ireland for the years to come. Schools will continue to teach about Christianity – but with a renewed emphasis on doing so objectively, critically and pluralistically. Many already do this well, and when they do, Christian truth and hope can shine clearly within a plural environment. 

Far from being a threat to faith, this moment offers Christians an opportunity to communicate with greater integrity, depth and joy.

Father God, 

Thank you for our schools and for everyone who works in education. We recognise the inherent goodness of children being together and learning about the world you have made. Thank you that religious education is already an important part of the curriculum. We pray that this review would help it to be taught even more clearly and with even greater integrity. 

We pray for wisdom and grace for those tasked with being part of this review process. We pray for a syllabus which will help children and young people to be well informed, respectful of others and better able to evaluate their own beliefs and values. Help us not to be fearful, but to have confidence that your word is always true, good and beautiful and will not return empty when it is proclaimed. 

Thank you that your Holy Spirit lives and moves in your people, many of whom are bringing life and love into their schools as pupils, teachers, parents and governors. We acknowledge the financial and other pressures which schools are facing right now and pray for resources to meet so many rising needs. We pray that local churches would find new and creative ways to be a support to their local schools and families in this moment. 

In short, may genuine Christian religious education – and transformation – be evident and embodied in the lives of your people inside and outside of the classroom.

Amen.