More than one in five black children now attend a Catholic school. That’s according to the latest research which shows the Catholic Church to be the most ethnically diverse provider of education in the country.

With roughly 10% of schools, the Catholic Church is the second largest provider of education in the country. However, this tenth of provision now educates more than fifth of all black pupils in the country.

The figures, which are part of the annual Catholic Education Service’s Schools Census, also reveal the extent the Catholic Church is helping to integrate Eastern European migrants with British society, as almost one in five pupils from minority white backgrounds go to a Catholic school.

Across the board, Catholic schools educate 21% more pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds compared to other schools.

Statistics also show that ethnic minority pupils in Catholic secondary schools perform better at GCSE than the national average.

Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service commented: “For another year running, Catholic schools are the most ethnically diverse in the country.

“What’s more, Catholic schools are not just more diverse but disproportionally more so. The fact that a tenth of all schools educates a fifth of certain ethnic minorities is an incredible achievement.

“With Catholicism being a largely immigrant faith in England, Catholic schools have a strong track record of taking in children from a wide range of ethnic minorities and producing well-educated, open minded, citizens.

“It is very easy for secularist campaigners to claim that religious ethos schools are divisive and segregate communities but the evidence for this simply doesn’t back this up.”

Notes to editors

There are more than 2200 Catholic Schools in England and Wales.

The Catholic sector is the second largest provider of education and currently educates 852,321 pupils.

There are a total of 307,663 ethnic minority pupils in Catholic schools (36.1% of pupils).

One in seven ethnic minority pupils in England and Wales attend a Catholic school

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An overwhelming majority of parents support the continuation of collective acts of worship in the country’s Catholic schools, the latest research has found.

The data, revealed as part of the Catholic Schools Census, shows that 99.95% of non-Catholic parents support the provision of collective acts of worship in their child’s Catholic school.

Of the near 290,000 pupils in English and Welsh Catholic schools from other faiths or none, just 0.05% were withdrawn from collective acts of worship, such as prayers in assemblies, Nativity plays and Masses.

Over the last five years there has been an eight per cent increase in the number of pupils in Catholic schools in England and Wales with the current total sitting at 852,321. That is one in every ten pupils nationally.  

Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service commented: “Collective worship is one of the foundations upon which our schools are built.

“Although it is a statutory requirement for all schools, collective worship is an integral part of life in a Catholic school. It is crucial to the spiritual life of the school and to pupils’ moral and spiritual development.

“Throughout the year, Catholic school communities come together to celebrate important events in the Church’s calendar, as well as the start and end of the academic year. Through regular prayer and worship, including Mass, the rhythm of the Church’s year becomes a normal part of school life.

“Whilst it’s important that schools make it clear to parents that they’re able to withdraw their child from acts of collective worship, it is encouraging to see that the overwhelming majority of parents in Catholic schools don’t.

“Too often we are led to believe that there is no longer an appetite for collective acts of Christian worship in schools, but these figures vindicate the continued existence of these practices.”

Notes to Editors

There are more than 2200 Catholic Schools in England and Wales.

The Catholic sector is the second largest provider of education and currently educates 852,31 pupils.

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More than 26,000 Muslim pupils are now educated in Catholic schools across the country, according to the latest research.

The figures, which form part of the annual Catholic Schools’ Census, show that one in three pupils who attend the country’s Catholic schools are not of the Catholic faith.

For the first time, the Census has collected data on pupil religion other than Catholicism to get a better picture of the religious diversity in Catholic schools.

The data found that one of the biggest religious groupings was pupils with no religion. This group accounted for more than a fifth of the non-Catholic pupils.

The largest religious group were pupils from other Christian denominations. More than 148,000 of them are currently enrolled in Catholic schools and make up half of all non-Catholic pupils.

Once again, the figures from the Schools’ Census show that Catholic schools are the most ethnically diverse in the country with 21% more pupils coming from ethnic minority backgrounds than the national average.

Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service, which compiled the Census, commented: “It is great to see Catholic schools acting as beacons of diversity and integration up and down the country.

“Often, parents of different faiths and none value the distinctive and unapologetically Catholic ethos of the Church’s schools.

“It is precisely because we are open about our faith that parents of other religions feel comfortable with the all-inclusive ethos of Catholic schools.”

Notes to editors

There are more than 2200 Catholic Schools in England and Wales.

The Catholic sector is the second largest provider of education and currently educates 852,321 pupils.

There are 287,934 non Catholic pupils in Catholic schools with the breakdown as follows (alphabetical order):

Buddhist –  1,175 (0.41%)

Hindu – 5,855 (2.03%)

Jewish – 276 (0.10%)

Muslim – 26,264 (9.12%)

No religion – 63,062 (21.90%)

Other Christian – 148,018 (51.41%)

Other religion – 15,195 (5.28%)

Religion refused 2,407 (0.84%)

Religion not known – 22,181 (7.70%)

Sikh – 3,501 (1.22%)

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