Readers will no doubt recall the Supreme Court’s judgment in JR87, Re Application for Judicial Review [2025] UKSC 40, in which the Court upheld the judgment of Colton J at first instance that religious education and collective worship in the school of the anonymised child applicant were not conveyed in an objective, critical, and pluralistic manner, contrary to Article 9 and Article 2 of Protocol 1 ECHR; Russell Sandberg commented on it here.

The immediate response was for the Northern Ireland Government to commission a Review of RE and collective worship. In answer to a series of written questions in the Northern Ireland Assembly by Nick Mathison (Alliance) about progress (which I report without comment) Paul Givan (DUP), the Minister of Education, , said this:

1: On the Review, on retaining the legislative requirement for RE “to be taught according to the Holy Scriptures”, and on ensuring that RE does not present Christianity, three identical answers:

“The Supreme Court judgment made clear that the legislation itself does not prevent Religious Education (RE) being taught in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner, because schools are permitted, and now encouraged, to add broader material beyond the Core Syllabus. Continue reading →