Three in 10 families in England are left with little choice but to send their child to a faith school when they start school, according to this study by the National Secular Society.
According to analysis by the National Secular Society, 30 per cent of families live in areas where two or three of their nearest primary schools are faith based. One in 10 families have the same issue at secondary level.
In some local authorities, including Westminster, Wigan, Dorset and Rutland, more than 60 per cent of all schools are faith schools.
The NSS also said that for the third year running, more than 20,000 pupils have been assigned to faith schools this September, despite their families expressing a preference for a non-faith option.
Since 2014, more than 153,000 children have been assigned to faith schools despite a non-faith preference. In one local authority – Kensington and Chelsea – more than 11 per cent of applicants were assigned faith schools against their parents’ preferences, while in Kent this affected more than 1,000 pupils.