Annex C Transport to school on the grounds of religion or belief

Section 509AD of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on local authorities to have regard to a parent’s religion or belief, while fulfilling their duties and exercising their powers relating to travel. 'Religion' in this respect means any religion and ‘belief’ means any religious or philosophical belief.

It is acknowledged that the definitions of ‘religion’ and ‘belief are ultimately determined by the courts and there is a substantial body of case law which exists with regard to these definitions.

The Department for Education (DfE) offer the following advice in their Home to School Transport Guidance 2007 regarding religion or belief.

a) The definition of ‘religion; includes those religions widely recognised such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Rastafarianism, Baha’is; Zoroastrians and Jains.

b) A religion must have a clear structure and belief system.

c) Equally denominations or sects within a religion may be considered as religions in this context such as Catholicism or Protestantism within Christianity.

d) ‘Belief’ may be understood as equating to ‘conviction’ and must be more than an opinion or idea. It must be genuinely held and parents/carers bear the burden of showing that it constitutes the reason for placing their child at a given school, or not placing them at a particular school.

The DfE consider that the following examples do not meet the requirements for the provision of transport on faith or philosophical grounds:

• the wish to have a child educated at a particular type of school (for example a grammar school)
• the wish for a child to be taught in a particular language
• a belief that a child should be privately educated
• objections to rules requiring that a school uniform must be worn
• the belief that a particular school will provide a better level of education