UK free schools and academies have been banned from teaching creationism as an alternative to evolution, as according to government documents, schools found teaching the doctrine as a fact will be in violation of their state funding agreement.
The new rules were published last month as updated clauses for the funding agreement, with a statement from the Secretary of State acknowledging that there should still be discussion of beliefs about the origins of the earth, as long as creationism is not presented as a “valid alternative to established scientific theory”.
The Government has now published a new set of guidelines curbing the practice in academies and free schools, saying that it is recognised that the requirement on every academy and free school to provide a broad and balanced curriculum prevents the teaching of creationism as evidence-based theory.
Although academies and free schools are financed by the state, they have more freedom than other educational institutions, as they are not required to follow the national curriculum and are not controlled by elected local authorities. There are around 174 free schools operating in the UK, making up around 1 per cent of schools.
Free schools were initially set up in 2011 and were championed by the Government as a way of encouraging innovation outside of state limitations. However, it was revealed by The Guardian in 2012 that three free schools with creationist policies had been approved for opening by Education Secretary Michael Gove.
Since then secular campaigners have been pushing for the government to introduce stricter regulations to outlaw the teaching of creationism as an alternative to Darwinism.
According to the Department for Education, the new rules have merely clarified the Government’s original position and represent a restructuring of the funding agreement into one, plain English document.