The publication of the British Academy’s Report, Theology and Religious Studies Provision in UK Higher Education, in May 2019 was widely reported in the press, where the study of religion was presented as a relic in terminal decline. Yet many Religious Studies colleagues immediately raised concerns, both about the conflation of RS and confessional approaches, and the actual data being presented. The BASR immediately committed to producing a robust, data-driven response to the BA Report. The result is published today.

We hope that the report will challenge some of the damaging misrepresentations of the vitality of Religious Studies in the UK. We suspect it will be of use to colleagues in departments which face cuts or reorganisation. We know it will be a useful snapshot of the state of the field today—far healthier, diverse and vital than the BA report suggested.

Read the full report here.