It is worth remembering that there are many who distrust the religious and moral ethos of faith schools (“Faith quotas Bill unlikely to change admissions”, TES, October 20).
Therefore, any strategies to change the characteristics of such schools are real. Proposals for the new faith schools to take non-denominational children not only strengthen such a situation but also appear to be discriminatory.
The implications of the “new and old” will affect different religious communities differently. Most existing faith schools are Roman Catholic or Church of England and remain unaffected by the proposed quota. New ones, unlikely to be the church schools because of the declining demand, and likely to be established by other communities because of the demand, have to follow different criteria for admission.
Husain Akhtar
Independent inspector of schools
Harrow
