Consultation on the Religious Education Core Syllabus

Overview

A consultation on the draft Religious Education (RE) Core Syllabus is underway, led by the RE Drafting Group, under the chairmanship of Professor Noel Purdy.  The consultation is housed on the Department of Education website and facilitated by a DE secretariat function.

The draft RE syllabus and covering report is available on the DE website. Please read these documents before responding to this consultation.

• Consulation on the Review of the RE Core Syllabus

Please note this consultation is about the statutory legal content of the RE syllabus. It is not about pedagogy, teaching techniques, resources or professional development. Matters such as learning through play in the Foundation Stage, or techniques such as project work or direct instruction will not be referenced in the legal framework, but will be considered through guidance materials including pedagogical principles.  

The consultation period on the new syllabus will be 1 July to 30 September 2026.  

We welcome all responses to refine and strengthen the design of the new RE syllabus.

Privacy and confidentiality

Responses may be published on the DE website with names and contact details removed. 

If you would prefer your response to remain unpublished, tick the confidentiality box in the appropriate section or contact re.review@education-ni.gov.uk 

When responding to free text boxes please do not disclose personal information, either of yourself or others as they may be published, unless you have informed us that you wish for your response to remain unpublished.

The survey complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 including The UK GDPR | ICO. The Privacy Notice for this survey explains the legislative basis for the survey and your data protection rights.