What is a faith school?
Faith schools have to follow the national curriculum, but they can choose what they teach in religious studies.
They may have different admissions criteria and staffing policies to state schools, although anyone can apply for a place.
The majority of faith schools in England are Church of England or Roman Catholic. According to a House of Commons briefing paper, at the end of January 2017 there were 27 Muslim faith schools in England.
Are faith schools subject to the same checks as other state and private schools?
Faith schools are inspected by Ofsted, the schools watchdog. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting maintained schools and academies, some independent schools and many other educational institutions and programmes outside of higher education.
Has Ofsted expressed concern about faith schools in the past?
In December, Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England, said private faith schools run by religious conservatives were “deliberately resisting” British values and equalities law.
She said the discoveries made for uncomfortable reading but denied it amounted to criticism of faith schools in general, and appealed for school inspectors to be given new powers to seize evidence during visits.
Has religious extremism been previously identified in schools?
The most high-profile allegations of extremism in British schools were made during the so-called Trojan horse affair.
An investigation was launched in Birmingham amid claims that conservative Muslims were attempting to infiltrate several schools and impose an extreme version of Islamic faith.
A letter that warned of the plot was later found to be fake and the controversial subsequent investigations failed to turn up any evidence.
But the impact of the allegations is still felt by many still wary of alleged influence of religious leaders on curricula across the country.
