ABSTRACT
The case for compulsory religious education for all pupils in the United Kingdom is ‘framed’ by the existence of an existing parental right of withdrawal in each of the legally constituted education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Recent calls for compulsory religious education for all pupils in English schools require the right of withdrawal to end and thus the loss of a long-established freedom that parents enjoy in relation to the provisions and character of the state maintained education system. After a short account of the historical origins of ‘the withdrawal clause’, arguments for its abolition are considered, none of which is found convincing.
