Faith schools and how their admissions work

Last reviewed October 2026

Roughly a third of state schools in England have a religious character. They are open to everyone, but when oversubscribed, many give priority on faith grounds — which changes how you work out your chances. Here is how faith schools and their admissions work, explained even-handedly.

What a “faith school” actually is

A faith school is a state-funded school with a religious character — most commonly Church of England or Roman Catholic, with smaller numbers of Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and other schools. They follow the national curriculum (though religious education and collective worship reflect their faith), and they are state schools, so they are free. Many are voluntary aided schools or academies that act as their own admissions authority — meaning the school, not the council, sets the detailed criteria.

Do you have to be religious to apply?

No. Anyone can apply to a faith school, and when a school has enough places it generally admits all applicants regardless of faith. Faith only comes into play when a school is oversubscribed: at that point many faith schools prioritise children of that religion (often evidenced by attendance at worship or a baptism certificate) ahead of other children. Some reserve a proportion of places for non-faith (“open”) applicants. Plenty of children attend faith schools without being from that faith — it depends entirely on demand and the school’s criteria.

How faith criteria work in practice

Because faith schools set their own criteria, the detail varies widely. A church school might rank applicants by frequency and length of worship attendance, confirmed by a form a religious leader signs; another might simply ask for a baptism certificate; a third might weight faith lightly and fall back to distance. Distance and siblings usually still feature, often as tie-breakers within each faith category. The only reliable source is the school’s own published admission arrangements for the year you are applying — read them carefully.

Working out your chances

Faith admissions make last year’s distance cut-off a weaker guide than at a non-faith school, because places are allocated by faith category first and only then by distance. If you are applying on faith grounds, look at how the school ranks within the faith (regular worship is often required well before you apply). If you are applying without the faith, check whether the school keeps open places and how often non-faith applicants are admitted. For how distance and cut-offs work generally, see our catchment areas guide, and for the overall process see school admissions explained.

Weighing a faith school up

Parents choose faith schools for many reasons — shared values and ethos, pastoral care, or simply that it is the good school nearby. Others prefer a non-faith school. Both are reasonable; the point is to go in understanding the admissions reality so you are not relying on a place you are unlikely to get. Visit, read the ethos statement, and ask how the faith shapes daily life and how inclusive the school is of children from other backgrounds. On our map, you can see which nearby schools have a religious character.

Where to get the official answer

Always use the school’s own admission arrangements (published on its site and your local authority’s) for the exact criteria, plus the local authority’s coordinated scheme for how to apply. If a school is its own admissions authority, apply as its arrangements direct — some ask for a supplementary faith form in addition to the normal council application, and missing it can cost you the faith priority.

General information to help you choose, written even-handedly and not from or for any faith. Admission criteria change yearly and vary by school — check the official arrangements for the year you apply.