Election 2026: School worship opt-out a key priority in children’s rights manifesto

Joe Higgins, Policy and Campaigns Officer

March 31, 2026

Ahead of the Holyrood elections in May, we’re urging the next Scottish Government to end compulsory school worship and fundamentally reform the practice in non-denominational schools. Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) has also made an independent pupil opt-out for religious observance a key priority in their 2026 Manifesto.

On Thursday 7 May voters across Scotland will head to the polls to elect a new Scottish Parliament. Despite recent reforms, the issue of children’s rights and religious observance (RO) in schools remains unfinished business for MSPs.

Independent pupil opt-out

Minority- and non-religious school pupils still have no voice and no choice over participation in school worship. Newly passed legislation gives religious pupils an independent right to opt in to RO against their parents’ wishes – but no reciprocal right for humanist pupils to opt out. This approach embeds discrimination into law and is incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

BLOG: Why Scotland’s religious observance law fails to uphold children’s rights

Humanist Society Scotland and Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) are jointly urging the next Scottish Government to address this clear inconsistency. Pupils must be able to decide for themselves whether to take part in RO, no matter their beliefs. Ministers’ new regulation powers mean they can make this important change immediately, and without the need to pass a whole new law.

In calling for an independent right to opt out of religious observance, Together’s Children’s Rights Manifesto 2026 states that: “Scotland has taken some steps to improve access to information and to recognise children’s rights to expression, protest and belonging in public life. However, significant gaps remain in ensuring that children can exercise these rights fully and safely in practice.”

No proselytising in non-faith schools

The next government will be tasked with updating school guidance on RO. In February, MSPs agreed that the new guidance must consider “the importance of inclusiveness in the content and delivery” of RO activities. This follows pupil testimonies and school data showing widespread Christian worship in non-denominational schools.

Humanist Society Scotland will be urging Ministers to set clear expectations that RO cannot teach that any one faith or belief is “the truth” in a non-denominational school. So too, no pupil should be asked to pray, worship, or in any way affirm their belief in God. This is the only way that all pupils can participate without compromise to their beliefs.

The updated guidance should also advise schools on how to deliver RO inclusively, using clear, instructive examples. In her recent blog, Professor Claire Cassidy proposed Philosophy with Children (PwC) as an inclusive alternative to traditional church services. And if the Scottish Parliament is serious about listening to children and young people, school pupils’ voices must be central to the conversation on RO in Scottish schools.

If delivered by the newly elected Scottish Parliament and Government, our key asks will protect children’s freedom of religion or belief and ensure RO reflects the diverse and secular profile of Scotland’s school communities.

Read our four key asks of the next Scottish Government

use new regulation powers to give school pupils with capacity the independent right to withdraw from religious observance (in line with 2016 and 2023 UNCRC Concluding Observations);

set clear expectations in guidance that RO in non-denominational schools must not involve teaching that any one faith is “the truth”, nor ask pupils to pray, worship, or in any way affirm their belief in a God;

provide schools with clear, instructive examples of fully-inclusive RO that meets the “objective, critical, and pluralistic” standard required under the European Convention on Human Rights, and;