Image copyright Thinkstock Image caption The new syllabus will ensure pupils understand the diversity of belief in modern Britain, says the government

The government might apply to the Court of Appeal over a High Court judge's ruling ministers made an error of law over the new religious studies GCSE.

Last month, Mr Justice Warby ruled ministers had erred by saying the GCSE would "fulfil the entirety" of the state's religious education duty.

Three families had argued the course "skewed" religious education by excluding non-religious world views.

The government said it disagreed with "some aspects" of the judge's decision.

Direct appeal

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesman said Mr Justice Warby had turned down an earlier request for permission to appeal against his ruling, so ministers were considering seeking leave to appeal directly to the Court of Appeal.

"However, we fully accept there is a proper place for the consideration of non-religious worldviews in a religious education curriculum," he said.

"The judgement does not require changes to the structure or content of the new RS GCSEs.

"The new GCSEs will ensure pupils understand the diversity of religious and non-religious beliefs in Great Britain.

"In future, for the first time, all pupils studying RS GCSE will need to study two religions rather than just one."

In his ruling, Mr Justice Warby ruled there had been a breach of the state's legal duty to provide religious education that reflected the pluralistic nature of the UK.

He said: "It is not of itself unlawful to permit an RS GCSE to be created which is wholly devoted to the study of religion."

But he added Education Secretary Nicky Morgan had erred in announcing the new course in February by asserting that it would "fulfil the entirety of the state's [religious education] duties".

He said schools would interpret this to mean non-religious views need not be included in the teaching.

"The assertion thus represents a breach of the duty to take care that information or knowledge included in the curriculum is conveyed in a pluralistic manner," he said.

'Parity'

The DfE spokesman said it would be inappropriate to spell out full details of the request for leave to appeal before they had been considered by the court.

The families who brought the original case included one from Cumbria and one from Kent who cannot be identified. The third family is Kate Bielby, from Frome in Somerset, and her daughter Daisy.

The families were backed by the British Humanist Association, which, at the time, described the High Court ruling as a "triumph" for its efforts to ensure parity for non-religious world views.

The new course is due for first teaching from next September.