18^th January 2007

Dear Colleague,

Funding of Sixth Form General Religious Education Courses

from September 2007

At the beginning of the New Year, I thought it might be useful to update you on the funding of sixth form general religious education post-September 2007.

Over the last term, there have been a series of meetings between:

·         officials of the CES, QCA and LSC;

·         a meeting on 8^th December 2006 of a small group of Catholic headteachers and sixth form principals with officials from the LSC and DfES;

·         a  subsequent meeting between the CES and DfES on 20^th December 2006; 

These culminated in a letter from Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Chair of the CES, to Alan Johnson on 22^nd December 2006.  Currently, we are awaiting a response to this letter and our request for the extension of current interim funding arrangements for sixth form general religious education. The issue of sixth form general religious education was also raised at a meeting between David Bell, Permanent Secretary of the DfES, and Oona Stannard, Chief Executive of the CES, at a meeting on 16^th January 2007.

Securing continuation of funding for NABS along with sixth form general religious education courses on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a priority for the Catholic Education Service’s work. We are very aware of the potential disenfranchisement of many students if a continuation of NABS funding cannot be found.   

We may come back to you to ask for your help in representing this case to your elected members of parliament, if necessary.  Either way, I hope to write to you again by the end of this month.

Finally for your information, the Edexcel Level 3 course entitled: ‘Award in Religion and Contemporary Society’ has been incorporated into the pilot extended writing project for the QCA diploma; thus attracting UCAS points.

Know that you remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Yours sincerely,

Fr. Joseph A. Quigley

National Religious Education Adviser for England and Wales