A Bill to amend the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to make provision regarding assemblies at state schools without a designated religious character in England; to repeal the requirement for those schools to hold collective worship; and for connected purposes.
House of Lords
30 April 2026
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The Education (Assemblies) Bill [HL] would replace the current requirement for collective worship in many state schools in England and Wales with daily assemblies focused on broad spiritual, moral, social and cultural education rather than religious observance. Pupils could opt out, and schools must provide an equally valuable alternative assembly if withdrawal occurs; duties would be placed on local authorities, governing bodies and headteachers to ensure compliance. The measure applies to schools without a designated religious character and to special schools, and it would amend several Acts to implement these changes, laying groundwork for wide reform of assemblies and related rights and duties.
The bill is currently in Committee stage in the Lords. An amendment paper (Feb 2025) shows 11 amendments proposed by Lord Jackson of Peterborough, signalling substantial policy shifts on withdrawal rights, equality of educational worth, rights for non-designated schools, and safeguards. A Select Committee report in Oct 2024 highlighted scrutiny of delegated powers in other Bills, not this one, underscoring a broader appetite for parliamentary scrutiny. The next steps will be for the Lords Committee to consider and decide whether to accept or reject these amendments before advancing the bill further.
Generated 21 February 2026
12 Sept 2024
7 Feb 2025
Showing agreed, defeated, and withdrawn amendments.
The 2024-26 session of Parliament has prorogued and this bill will make no further progress.
An amendment paper listing Lord Jackson of Peterborough’s proposed changes to the Education (Assemblies) Bill [HL]. It would insert a new clause requiring assemblies to promote a defined set of spiritual, moral, social and cultural principles (potentially reflecting humanist beliefs) and to comply with existing safeguards on political indoctrination and balanced treatment; it also strengthens parental rights over assemblies. It also moves to allow schools without a religious designation to organise acts of worship, provides for pupil withdrawal from such events (including sixth-formers) with an equivalent act of worship, and defines 'equal educational worth' to ensure fair consideration of secular and religious perspectives.
The Committee’s Second Report scrutinises several Bills, focusing on two main concerns. It says the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill would allow the repeal of its limiting sections via a broad, potentially unlimited power that could be used after all private franchises end, and it asks for a clear limit and, if not, for affirmative parliamentary procedure. It also criticises the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill for ‘skeleton’ powers that would let ministers regulate most rules by secondary legislation with little justification or consultation, and it recommends removing those powers or substantially tightening scrutiny. It notes that other Bills in the list have no delegated powers to scrutinise.
The Bill would replace the current requirement for collective worship with daily assemblies in many English and Welsh schools, focusing on broad spiritual, moral, social and cultural education rather than religious observance. It allows pupils to opt out of worship, requires schools to provide an assembly of equal educational worth where pupils are withdrawn, and imposes duties on local authorities, governing bodies and headteachers to ensure compliance. It makes a wide range of amendments to several Acts to implement these changes for England and Wales, with specific provisions for schools without a religious character and for special schools.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
