‘It’s confusing’ Muslim pupils outnumber Christians in dozens of Britain’s church schools

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one school in Oldham is said to have a "100 per cent" Muslim population

About 20 Church of England (CoE) schools are estimated to have a majority Muslim population, as do 15 Roman Catholic schools, latest available figures reveal.

One school, St Thomas in Werneth, Oldham, is reported to have no Christian pupils at all, according to the local diocese.

While some school and church leaders say the institutions are merely serving their community.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the centre for education at the University of Buckingham, said the experience could be "uncomfortable" and "confusing" for children of both faiths.

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He told the Sunday Times: "The Church of England has traditionally provided education in this country but now that risks being an uncomfortable experience for the Muslim pupils that fill many of these schools.

"It must also be very confusing for the handful of Christian pupils in some of them. It would seem logical these schools become secular institutions."

St Thomas' website states: "St Thomas is a Church of England school and at present most of the children who attend are of the Muslim faith.

"We begin each day with a school worship when we say prayers to recognise the place God has in our lives.

"All children follow a course of Religious Education and we observe both Christian and Muslim Festivals."

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One school in Oldham is said to have a 100 per cent Muslim population

Other schools with an overwhelmingly Muslim population include Staincliffe CoE Junior School in West Yorkshire, where 98 per cent of students are reported to come from a Muslim background.

The school is said to hold religious assemblies with both a local imam and a priest – who are jokingly described as "the men in black" by staff.

Training days are scheduled along with the festival of Eid, a traditional holiday for Muslims where children would not be expected to go to school.

In Bolton, Bishop Bridgeman CoE Primary records a 90 per cent Muslim population, although the CoE’s chief education officer Rev Nigel Genders said the school "feels like a Church of England School".

He said: ”It goes back to the principle that we are not faith schools serving a Christian population but church schools serving the local community.”

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