The Church of England has pledged that a quarter of places in any new schools that it opens will be offered to non-church families.

The chairman of the Church’s education board has made the pledge in a letter to Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary. The Bishop of Portsmouth, the Right Rev Kenneth Stevenson, wrote: “The places would not be left empty if they were not filled by such children, so this would, technically, not be a ‘quota’ but a ‘proportion’. This commitment relates explicitly to new Church of England schools.”

Dr Stevenson said that the Government should not expect this commitment from all other faith schools.

“This is a commitment for the Church of England, not a statement of policy for all schools with a religious character. As I have said before, the Church supports the provision of more schools by and for the faith communities.

“It would not be right, in our view, for Parliament to require the same commitment from them as well. They are themselves a sign of inclusion and their very existence promotes community cohesion, which would be further enhanced by the development of robust and effective educational links between schools of a different character.”

Of 22 Church of England secondary schools recently opened, most serve disadvantaged communities and have inclusive admissions policies. Most give priority to local children or do not admit on the basis of faith.

There has been growing controversy over the role of church schools in state education, with criticism that admission procedures favour the middle classes.

Currently, 25 per cent of children attend Church of England primary schools but just 6 per cent at secondary level. This means that demand far exceeds supply at secondary level, and research published this year suggested that church schools admit far fewer pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds than other schools and take more than their share of bright pupils.

The study also suggested that church secondary schools admit a far higher proportion of children who have done well in their national curriculum tests at the age of 11 than the percentage in the communities that they serve.

The Church of England is expected next month to issue new guidance to its 4,700 schools, advising that parents who want their children to gain places should go to church with their families at least twice a month.

Parents who are unable to go to church on Sunday but can demonstrate their Christian commitment in other ways will not be excluded.

Under the Government’s proposed new admissions code, faith schools will be banned from interviewing parents but will be allowed to ask them to outline how “religious affiliation or commitment is to be demonstrated”.

The Roman Catholic Church has also announced that it is to revise its inspection frameworks to ensure full reporting of the contribution that Catholic schools and colleges make to social cohesion.

Mr Johnson said that the announcements by both churches demonstrate “an important commitment to community cohesion and high quality education for all”.

He said: “A good education is one of the best ways of building understanding of the many issues that unite us, as opposed to the few that divide. We want to preserve the special contribution faith schools make to raising educational standards and offering choice.”

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