Two-thirds of Scots support independent pupil opt-out for religious observance, new poll shows

November 25, 2025

A new poll on the public’s view of religion in schools is published ahead of a key vote at Holyrood today. MSPs will debate the ‘Religious Observance’ Bill for the first time this afternoon (25 November). Humanist Society Scotland continue to urge Ministers to give pupils the independent right to withdraw from religious observance.

An overwhelming majority of Scots agree that school pupils should decide for themselves whether to take part in religious observance, a new poll has found. The research, conducted by Survation on behalf of Humanist Society Scotland, revealed that support for an independent pupil opt-out from religious observance stood at 66%. The poll found majority support for giving young people the final say among voters of every political party. This includes 74% of SNP voters.

Today’s poll is published ahead of the Stage 1 debate on the Children (Withdrawal from Religious Education and Amendment of UNCRC Compatibility Duty) (Scotland) Bill. If passed, the Bill would give school pupils a new independent right to opt in to RO and RME if their parent tries to withdraw them. But non-religious pupils who don’t feel comfortable taking part will still need their parent’s permission to opt out. Humanist Society Scotland has warned the Bill risks creating a “hierarchy of belief” that empowers religious children but fails to respect the views of non-religious pupils.

Our charity has also criticised the Bill’s conflation of religious education (a critical, balanced and objective part of the school curriculum) with religious observance (acts of worship). This is especially important given last week’s Supreme Court ruling in Northern Ireland. The judges ruled that collective worship which isn’t objective, critical and pluralistic amounts to indoctrination and is unlawful. Scotland could see a similar legal challenge unless Ministers amend their Bill to uphold young people’s right to a balanced education.

A broad coalition of human rights organisations have also lined up against the Bill. A key critique has been Ministers’ decision to ignore the twice-made recommendation of the UNCRC committee to allow pupils to independently withdraw from collective worship. In doing so, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, UNICEF UK and Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) all agree that the Bill is incompatible with the UNCRC.

Commenting on the results of the poll, Humanist Society Scotland CEO Fraser Sutherland said:

“Two-thirds of Scots think young people should have the final say over where they take part in religious observance, yet the Scottish Government still wants to leave the veto with parents. This poll shows just how out of step that is with public opinion and with a basic, common-sense understanding of children’s rights. If a teenager is old enough to form their own view about religion, they are old enough to decide whether or not to take part in worship at school.

“Last week’s Supreme Court ruling on religious education and worship in Northern Ireland underlines that governments can’t ignore young people’s right to their own beliefs and hope the issue goes away. Scotland now risks sleepwalking into similar legal challenges. MSPs have a clear choice: they can pass a Bill that creates a hierarchy of belief and leaves non-religious pupils without a meaningful right to opt out, or they can amend it to give all young people an independent, UNCRC-compliant right to choose for themselves.”

The poll, carried out by Survation on behalf of Humanist Society Scotland, canvassed the views of 1,005 people in Scotland between 17 and 21 November. The polling firm asked the following question:

In Scotland, pupils currently take part in religious observance during school hours. At present, parents can withdraw their child from religious observance, but pupils themselves cannot. Which of the following statements is closest to your view?

Young people who are capable of forming a view should be able to decide for themselves whether to take part in religious observance at school – 66%

Young people who are capable of forming a view should not be able to decide for themselves whether to take part in religious observance at school – 21%

Don’t Know – 13%

Full results tables for the poll are available here.