The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) of Worcestershire Council met on Monday 6 October 2025. On the agenda was the planning of conferences for the summer of 2026, and a discussion of national news regarding religious education. The council was also scheduled to discuss exam results and a workforce update.

National News

The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education were scheduled to discuss national updates from RE Today, including:

• Examination Results: There was to be a discussion of the summer 2025 GCSE and A-Level results in Religious Studies. Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 16,439 students sat A-level Religious Studies exams in 2025, slightly fewer than in 2024. Girls were more likely to study the subject than boys. 237,515 students took the full course GCSE, also slightly down on the previous year.
• School Census Data: The council were to discuss data collected from the School Workforce Census about religious education teaching in England. According to a NATRE report analysing the data, there had been a decrease in the number of schools reporting that they offered zero hours of RE in year 11, from 16.4% in 2023 to 14.4% in 2024.
• Ofsted's Education Inspection Framework and Toolkit: The meeting included a discussion of Ofsted's renewed toolkit for schools, and a NATRE slideshow comparing the 2024 handbook with the 2025 toolkit.
• NATRE Report Card: The council were scheduled to discuss NATRE's new report card on the state of RE in England 2025.

• NASACRE Training: The meeting included a discussion of training offered by NASACRE¹ for SACRE members.

• Interfaith Week 2025: The council were to discuss Interfaith Week, which in 2025 was scheduled to take place from Sunday 9 to Sunday 16 November. The theme for schools was Community: Together we Serve.

• YouGov data on belief in God: The meeting included a discussion of data collected by YouGov on beliefs about God between 2019 and 2025.

• Religious Media Centre updates: The council were to discuss updates from the Religious Media Centre, an impartial organisation which aims to help the media report on religion and belief.

• Muslim Council of Britain: The meeting included a discussion of analysis of 2021 census data from the Muslim Council of Britain, which reveals a complex picture of British Muslim identity.

• Training and support for teachers: The council were scheduled to discuss training and support for teachers, including Masters scholarships, Farmington scholarships, RE Hubs, NATRE-supported webinars, and RE Today courses.

Planning for Conferences Summer 2026

The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education were scheduled to discuss the Worcestershire Primary RE Conference, planned for June 3, 2026. The draft programme included:

• Welcome and introduction from Jenny Lockwood, Worcestershire Baha'i Community and Chair of SACRE.
• A session on resourcing the syllabus.
• A session on enriching encounters with Muslims and Islam.
• A session on sequencing learning.
• A session on meeting representatives from different worldviews, including Jenny Lockwood, Richard Udall, Humanist Representative, Tasnim Khawaja, Lama Choesang, Yvonne Stollard, Jewish Representative, and Jatinderpal Singh Loyal, Sikh Representative.

Workforce Update

The council were scheduled to discuss letters to schools. At the last meeting, workforce data for schools in Worcestershire had been considered. It was agreed that Stephen Pett and Rev Duncan Hutchison from the Cathedral would issue letters to schools offering help to improve their RE offering.

Election of a Vice-Chairman

Nominations were requested for the position of Vice Chairman at the previous meeting, SACRE minutes 3 July 2025. Two nominations were received; Jatinderpal Loyal and Councillor Andrew Cross, Worcestershire County Council, but as Jatinderpal Loyal was not present, it was agreed to carry forward this decision until this meeting.