Faith schools face rewriting admissions policies

A school in north London has been found to have discriminated against a boy because his mother was not born Jewish.

Jews’ Free School (JFS), in Brent, went to the Supreme Court after three judges at the Court of Appeal ruled in June that the admissions rules were unfair.

JFS argued that its admissions policy giving preference to Jewish children when the school was oversubscribed was lawful because it was based on religious and not racial criteria.

The Supreme Court failed to overturn the decision potentially forcing 38 Jewish state schools in England to rethink their admissions policies.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was extremely disappointed by the decision and would push for a change in law to allow Jewish schools to apply admissions rules based on the faith of children’s parents, which is a “fundamental right”.

The move was however welcomed by groups opposed to faith schools. Chairman of Accord Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, which lobbies for a major overhaul of faith school entry requirements, hoped this ruling would serve as a ‘wake-up call’ by showing that religious admissions rules must conform to the law of the land:

“We will continue urging for all faith schools to stop discriminatory policies entirely. Taxpayer funded faith schools should serve not just themselves but also the community around them.”