In their election manifesto, the Conservatives promised to scrap a cap on school admissions, which compelled oversubscribed faith institutions to take half of their pupils from other religions. However, the Government is looking to rescind on that promise amidst concerns that the move could heighten community divisions.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England all have plans to open free schools. However, the Catholics have said they would not open new state schools if they had to reserve half their places for children of other faiths. There were plans to open new schools to cope with the influx of Catholic families from eastern Europe.
In the Sunday Times, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Education Service said: "We cannot open any free schools if the 50% admission cap remains. We have not opened any since 2010 even though there is huge demand for Catholic education in some regions."
She said plans had been drawn up after the Tories pledged to lift the cap to open 40 to 50 new Catholic schools, including eight in East Anglia. Sites for the schools had already been found.
However, Nigel Genders, the chief education officer for the Church of England, said that if ministers dropped the 100% admissions promise, the Church of England, which runs thousands of state schools, would still go ahead with plans to open 40 free schools.
The chief inspector of schools Amanda Spielman told the Sunday Times: "Admission 100% on faith leads to increased levels of segregation within communities."