A new report has revealed that faith schools are turning their backs on their original remit to tackle the poor and vulnerable, and selecting proportionately more white, middle-class pupils.

Protests from secular and teaching groups have met an announcement by the government that many more faith-based schools are to be brought into the state-funded sector with a pledge to remove "unnecessary barriers" to religious groups.

The Government has promised to remove "unnecessary barriers" for religious groups that want to provide state education.

A church school’s refusal to admit a wheelchair-bound child highlights important questions of access, inclusion and the duties of both voluntary-aided schools and the whole education sector, says the parent involved.

Britain's schools, including those run by faith groups, talk of inclusion. But Jonathan Bartley's wheelchair-bound son Samuel has found that the church and education authorities are reluctant to put their money where their mouth is.

The British Humanist Association has welcomed parts of the report published by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, but has warned against religious divisions in public welfare and education provision.