In 2012 a Review of RE in England was initiated by the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, in response to a perceived sense of crisis among the religious education (RE) community. Its recommendations, which include a new National Curriculum Framework for RE, were published in October, 2013. The fact that the proposed National Curriculum Framework for RE aspires to provide a curriculum model of excellence that all schools should follow, naturally invites careful study and scrutiny. This article considers the question whether the Review's conclusions provides a democratically mandated, legally compliant, educationally convincing and socially appropriate future direction for RE in England. It is concluded that there are serious weaknesses in the proposals and that the Review process was a missed opportunity for the emergence and articulation of a model of religious education that is appropriate to the aims of liberal education in a democratic, increasingly diverse English society.