Education
One in three Muslims have no qualifications
People of working age with no qualifications: by religion, 2004, GB
In 2004 a third (33 per cent) of Muslims of working age in Great Britain had no qualifications – the highest proportion for any religious group. They were also the least likely to have degrees or equivalent qualifications (12 per cent).
After Muslims, Sikhs are the next most likely to have no qualifications (20 per cent). Seventeen per cent of Buddhists and a similar proportion of Christians (15 per cent), Hindus (15 per cent) and people with no religion (14 per cent) had no qualifications. Jews were the least likely to have no qualifications (7 per cent).
Jews, Buddhists and Hindus were more likely than other groups to hold a degree. About four in ten Jews (44 per cent) and three in ten Buddhists (30 per cent) and Hindus (29 per cent) held a degree compared with 22 per cent of people with no religion, 20 per cent of Sikhs and 16 per cent of Christians.
Across all religions, the pattern for men and women of working age is similar but women are generally more likely than men to have no qualifications.
Percentage of 16 to 30 year olds with a degree: by religion and country of birth, 2004, GB
Muslims and Sikhs who were born in the UK are more likely than those born elsewhere to have a degree or equivalent qualification, irrespective of age. Among those under the age of 30, UK-born Sikhs and Muslims were almost twice as likely to have degrees in 2004 as those born elsewhere. In contrast, there was little difference in the likelihood of having a degree between Hindus born in the UK and those born elsewhere.
In January 2004 there were almost 7,000 state-maintained faith schools in England, making up 36 per cent of primary and 17 per cent of secondary schools. The overwhelming majority of these faith schools (99 per cent) were Christian. Christian schools had places for 1.7 million children and, in 2001, 5.1 million children aged 5 to 16 in England were described as Christian.
There were 371,000 school-aged (5 to 16 year old) Muslim children in England in 2001 and four Muslim state-maintained schools in 2004, catering for around 1,100 children. There were 64,000 school-aged Sikh children and two Sikh state-maintained schools, catering for around 600 children.
There were 33,000 Jewish school-aged children in England compared with 13,000 places in state-maintained Jewish schools.
Sources: Qualifications: Annual Population Survey, January 2004 to December 2004, Office for National Statistics Schools: Annual Schools Census, January 2004, Department for Education and Skills Number of children: Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics
Notes: The working age population comprises males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59.
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