Schools being 'forced to axe religious education lessons' Under the system, pupils can gain the EBacc for achieving good GCSE grades in the five core academic disciplines of maths, English, science, foreign languages and either history or geography. The Government is now proposing to scrap GCSEs altogether in these subjects in favour of new-style qualifications dubbed "English Baccalaureate Certificates." But the NATRE claimed the move had marginalised other subjects that are not included in the reforms, meaning hundreds of schools were "killing off RE." It comes despite the fact that RE is currently a compulsory subject in all state schools. Ed Pawson, the organisation's chairman, said: "It is unacceptable that such a high number of schools are failing to offer their students the opportunity to study RE. In addition, many schools report a serious reduction in specialist RE teaching staff, stating the introduction of the EBacc as the major factor. We are calling on the government to conduct an urgent inquiry into why so many schools are neglecting a subject that they say is compulsory. The NATRE surveyed 625 schools in England on the provision of RE in the curriculum. Researchers found that 33 per cent of schools were not meeting "legal requirements" to offer it as a subject in Key Stage 4 - covering 14- to 16-year-olds - up from just over a quarter last year. The number of schools shunning the subject rises to 42 per cent among the Government's flagship academies and 40 per cent among state comprehensives. Some one-in-eight schools also admitted dropping RE for pupils in the first three years of secondary school, it was revealed. In other findings, the research found that: Almost two-thirds of schools reported a decline in the number of pupils studying RE at GCSE level this year - an increase of 12 per cent in two years; A fifth admitted trying to deliver the two-year GCSE course in "less than the recommended teaching time" because of staffing problems; Almost a quarter of schools reported a reduction in the number of specialist staff employed to teach RE in 2012/13; In around half of schools, at least one in 10 RE lessons were now being delivered by teachers trained in other subjects such as history and geography.