ASCL welcomes the attention being paid to these bodies. Some undoubtedly add a valuable dimension to the education of children who attend them, but school and college leaders have had concerns about some of them for many years.

There is a very wide range of different organisations encompassed by this definition: many, but by no means all, are intended to provide religious instruction in a particular religion or sect; many, but by no means all, are associated with a particular ethnic group.

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