Guidance on religious observance in schools
Overview
Background
We are seeking views on draft statutory guidance relating to religious observance (RO) in Scottish schools.
The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 makes provision relating to religious observance and religious instruction in public and grant-aided schools. When the relevant provisions in the Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Act 2026 (the Act) come into force, there will be a new legal requirement to consider the pupil’s views where a parent requests their withdrawal from religious observance. The Act also requires Scottish Ministers to publish statutory guidance within 12 months of these provisions coming into force.
The Scottish Government has developed this draft guidance to support schools, education authorities and managers of grant-aided schools in implementing the new requirements. It is also intended to support parents and pupils to understand the new legal requirements.
The draft guidance will replace the 2017 non-statutory guidance on religious observance and is intended to assist education authorities and school leaders in the planning and delivery of religious observance. It covers:
- the meaning of religious observance;
- planning and delivery of religious observance;
- information for parents and pupils;
- requests for withdrawal from religious observance;
- assessing a pupil's capacity to form a view;
- arrangements for withdrawn pupils;
- inclusive religious observance;
- denominational schools; and
- related matters.
Religious observance plays an important role in supporting pupils’ spiritual development and in expressing and celebrating the shared values of the school community. The guidance aims to provide clear and practical support for schools and education authorities to meet their statutory duties while delivering meaningful and inclusive religious observance.
Overview of the Consultation
The purpose of this consultation is to gather views on the draft statutory guidance before it is finalised.
Your feedback will help inform the final version of the guidance and ensure it is workable in practice for schools, education authorities, parents, pupils and wider stakeholders.
We are particularly interested in your views on:
- whether the guidance accurately reflects religious observance in different school settings;
- whether the proposed processes are practical and proportionate;
- whether the guidance supports inclusive approaches to religious observance; and
- whether any further clarification or detail would be helpful.
It is important to note that the guidance will operate within the framework established by the Act, and cannot change the legal requirements detailed in it.
Consultation questions preview
The consultation questions are included here for your reference. Please click 'Begin consultation' at the bottom of this page to proceed.
Consultation Questions
Meaning of Religious Observance
1. The draft guidance includes a section on the meaning of religious observance.
a) To what extent do you think this section accurately describes what religious observance in non-denominational schools should be?
b) Does the definition of religious observance provide sufficient clarity on what religious observance is in denominational schools (as opposed to religious and moral education or religious education in Roman Catholic schools)?
c) How clear is the guidance about which activities constitute religious observance and which do not?
d) Are the examples provided at paragraph 4.5 helpful in understanding the distinction between religious observance and other school activities?
e) Is there anything in this section that you think is unclear, inaccurate or requires further examples?
Inclusive Religious Observance
2. The draft guidance includes a section on inclusive religious observance
a) How helpful is the guidance in supporting schools to provide religious observance that is inclusive of pupils and staff with different religious and non-religious beliefs?
b) Are there any changes or additional steps that you think would help schools ensure religious observance is inclusive?
c) Are there are circumstances in which the proposed approach could inadvertently exclude or disadvantage somebody?
Process for Considering a Withdrawal Request
3. The draft guidance includes a section on the process for considering a request for withdrawal from religious observance.
a) How clear is the proposed process for considering a request for withdrawal from religious observance?
b) How workable do you think the proposed process would be for schools in practice?
c) How clear is the guidance on the rights of children and young people in relation to religious observance and the duties placed on schools in respect of those rights?
d) What, if any, practical difficulties do you think schools could experience in applying this process? How could these be addressed?
Capacity Assessment
4. The draft guidance includes a section on assessing a pupil's capacity to form a view.
a) How clear is the guidance on assessing whether a pupil is capable of forming a view?
b) Do you think the guidance provides sufficient support for schools to make these assessments consistently and appropriately?
c) Are there any practical difficulties schools may encounter when assessing capacity, or any additional guidance or support that would be helpful?
Activities for Withdrawn Pupils
5. The draft guidance includes information on arrangements for pupils who are withdrawn from religious observance, and how withdrawal works in practice
a) Do you agree or disagree that a "present but not participating" approach can be an appropriate means of accommodating withdrawal from religious observance in certain circumstances, where the pupil and parent agree?
b) In what circumstances do you think this approach would or would not be appropriate?
c) Do you think the guidance provides sufficient clarity about what schools should provide for pupils who are withdrawn from religious observance?
d) If your answer to question 5(c) is No, what further information or clarification would be helpful?
Overall Guidance
6. Considering the guidance overall
a) Overall, how clear do you find the draft guidance?
b) Overall, how confident are you that the guidance can be implemented effectively in practice?
c) Do you think combined guidance for both denominational and non-denominational schools is helpful, or do you think separate guidance would be more appropriate?
d) Are there any further items that the guidance should cover or should provide more detail on? If so, what would be helpful?
e) How helpful do you find the templates and practical materials in the annexes?
f) Do you think the guidance is sufficient to enable schools to communicate the right to withdraw and the process for exercising the right clearly and impartially?
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