Three former community schools have adopted Church of England status at the start of this academic year.
Rossington high in Doncaster, Emmanuel high in Nottingham and Sir Thomas Boteler high in Warrington bring the number of Anglican secondaries in England to 193.
“Our school had quite a strong Christian ethos already,” said John Sharples, head of Sir Thomas Boteler. “Now we hope to strengthen the religious and collective-worship aspects.”
He added it would be a gradual process so as not to cause offence to non-Christian pupils and staff.
Canon John Hall, general secretary of the Church of England board of education, said the conversions were a step towards achieving last year’s Dearing Report goal of creating 100 new Anglican secondaries.
He added that the schools will not turn away local children without religious commitment.