With the aim to provide schools that were both Christian and inclusive, at least a quarter of all places at new Church of England schools will be open to children from non-Christian families, the church's Board of Education said on Tuesday.

The plans have been announced by Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth and the board's chairman, in a letter to Education Secretary Alan Johnson.

The Catholic Church also said on Tuesday it would look at making its schools more open to other members of local communities.

"Part of a school's Christian commitment is to reach out, to include, not with the purpose of indoctrination but in order to offer education clearly based on Christian values to the wider community," his letter said.

In March, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams hit back at criticism that faith schools were divisive and mainly took children from wealthy middle class families, providing a cheap alternative to private education