The High Court will rule on whether Christians who express "traditional" views on homosexuality can be barred from gaining professional qualifications after a social work student won the right to challenge his expulsion.

Felix Ngole, 39, was removed from a two-year MA course at Sheffield University in February last year after saying during a Facebook debate that "the Bible and God identify homosexuality as a sin".

He received permission to mount a judicial review in a preliminary hearing at the High Court. The full case will be heard later this year.

He is thought to be the first claimant to challenge a decision which barred him from a profession because his religious beliefs made him "unfit to practice".

Mr Ngole, who also worked as a religious education teacher, argued that he had been unfairly stopped from completing his degree.

His case is backed by the Christian Legal Centre, part of campaign group Christian Concern.

Chief executive Andrea Minichiello Williams said the result was a victory for free speech.

She said: "The idea that someone could be expelled from a social work course for expressing a view in a Facebook post and then declared not fit to practice is very detrimental to free speech.