Ministers want a "level playing field" on faith schools
Only one in four people believe there should be more faith schools while nearly twice as many are against an expansion, according to an opinion poll. The government has said there can be more faith schools - whether Christian, Islamic, Jewish or Sikh - if that is what a local community wants.
But criticism of the idea of dividing state schools along religious lines has become more pronounced since the riots in some of England's northern town this summer and the terror attacks of 11 September.
Critics argue that division can lead to tension between people from different religious or ethnic backgrounds.
Survey results
43% oppose expansion of faith schools
25% support an expansion
35% support existing faith schools
A survey carried out by MORI for the Times Educational Supplement found just over one in three people (35%) supported existing state-funded religious schools.
A total of 27% of those questioned said they opposed faith schools, while the rest were indifferent.
And four out of five people said state faith schools should have to admit people of other faiths or who have no religion.
People who favour faith schools cited a desire for children to be educated in the same values and beliefs as their family (35%), good discipline (28%) and religious ethos (27%).
The Education Secretary Estelle Morris has said it would be wrong not to allow non-Christian religions to run their own schools as Christian religions do.
She has said new faith schools should be inclusive and work with other schools in their area or take children from outside their religion.
For the survey, Mori polled 2,000 adults in Britain this month.