The Catholic Education Service (CES) said on Tuesday that it will challenge government plans not to include Religious Education within the curriculum covered by the proposed new secondary education qualification, the English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBacc).
Education Secretary Michael Gove announced this week that the Government intends to phase out GCSEs and replace them with the new qualification from 2017.
The revamped EBacc will cover English, maths, science, history, geography and languages. Coursework in subjects such as English and history will also be scrapped and students will no longer be allowed to re-sit individual exam modules to improve their overall grade.
Mr Gove told the House of Commons on Monday that he hoped exam reforms would "raise aspirations and increase rigour".