Up to a quarter of secondary schools are breaking the law by failing to teach religious education, a new survey has shown, as one expert said the subject can be seen as an "easy loss" amid financial pressure.

A survey published by the Religious Education Council and the National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) found that a quarter of the schools polled said they do not offer the subject to all students at GCSE level (aged 14 to 16).

In addition, the survey found differences between types of schools - with 96 per cent of faith schools saying they offer the subject to all 14 to 16-year-olds, compared with 73 per cent of academies.

Information gathered by the two organisations from the Government's workforce census under Freedom of Information requests also suggests that some schools are not teaching religious education.

The request asked for the number of hours of RE each secondary school in England taught to each year group - from Year 7 to Year 11.