Right to withdraw from RE: what to publish on your school website
Parents' right to withdraw their child from all or part of religious education and collective worship, and how to ask.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- The school's own website
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When it's due
Keep it up to date
There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
What's needed
Add information on parents' right to withdraw their child from all or part of religious education and collective worship, and how to ask, to the RE page on your website.
What it must contain
No parts listedThe official sources name no separate parts for this requirement. We check that it is published and easy to find.
What the official sources say
Set out in 1 official source:
What maintained schools must publish online
– information to make parents and carers aware they have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of RE
Should: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.§ Curriculum > What all schools must publish
Questions schools ask
Do schools have to publish the right to withdraw from RE?
Maintained schools must. For academies, it's recommended in official guidance, but isn't a legal requirement in itself.
When do we need to update our RE withdrawal information?
Keep it up to date. There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
Where does the requirement for the right to withdraw from RE come from?
It is set out in What maintained schools must publish online.
Recent changes to the official guidance
None of the published updates to the official sources change this requirement.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
Is this on your school's website?
Enter your school email address and we'll check your website for this requirement.
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Official wording that does not apply to schools (2)
1 If the parent of a pupil at a community, foundation or voluntary school in England requests that he may be wholly or partly excused from receiving religious education given at the school in accordance with the school's basic curriculum, the pupil shall be so excused until the request is withdrawn.
1A If the parent of any pupil at a community, foundation or voluntary school other than a sixth-form pupil requests that he may be wholly or partly excused from attendance at religious worship at the school, the pupil shall be so excused until the request is withdrawn.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4