ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a broad introduction to empirical research in religious education in the United Kingdom (UK) during the thirty-year period from 1990 until 2020, focusing on published qualitative and quantitative studies concerning the religiosity of young people and relevant to school-related religious education. Research in religious education in the UK during the twentieth century was not shaped by a central initiative, a major research institute, or a powerful funder. These were major weaknesses which resulted in the failure to generate and train highly skilled researchers, which is only now being overcome. Up to the twenty-first century research in religious education was a story written around individual researchers, whereas the first decade of the twenty-first century saw the emergence of the social significance of religion within public debate and this opened the way for investment in research in religious education, which has become increasingly international, with research groups comprising individuals from different countries.
