The Church of England has joined an alliance of faith groups to back the Government's decision to issue robust guidance that protects the freedom of schools to set their religious studies curriculum in line with statutory guidance and in accordance with the wishes of parents. The guidance issued by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan makes clear that schools can continue to prioritise the teaching of major faiths over non-religious world views such as humanism.

Revd Nigel Genders, Chief Education Officer for the Church of England said: "There has been confusion about the implications of the High Court judgment [with respect to the GCSE religious studies subject content] and we welcome the publication of this guidance note which clarifies the situation and provides assurance that the judgement does not impact on the content of the new RS GCSE."