High court overturns rulings from last year which claimed school used socially selective procedures to discriminate against less well-off families

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The London Oratory school, which educated the sons of former prime minister Tony Blair and current deputy PM Nick Clegg, has won a partial victory in a long-running legal battle over its admissions procedures.

The high court has overturned a series of rulings from last year, which claimed the high-achieving school used socially selective admissions procedures to discriminate against children from less well-off families.

But London Oratory lost its bid to include a family’s “Catholic service” – a points system that rewarded church flower arranging and choir membership – as a means of selecting pupils for the oversubscribed secondary school.

Mr Justice Cobb said the original office of the schools adjudicator rulings against the school had been “a mix of flawed reasoning and unfair process”.

Ane Vernon of the law firm Payne Hicks Beach, which acted for the school, said: “The allegation, which made headline news, that the school was socially selective and discriminating against less well-off families has been hurtful to staff, pupils and parents.

“This damaging allegation has been found by the judge to be wrong and unfair, and the finding vindicates the robust approach the school has had to take against the office of the schools adjudicator.”

The judge ruled London Oratory was entitled to see the Catholic baptism certificates of the parents of children applying for places at the school, and to ask for evidence of a candidate’s previous Catholic education as part of its over-subscription criterion.

The judicial review comes nearly two years since the first report by the adjudicators office, although the school’s battles over admissions regulations go back more than a decade.

“It is highly regrettable that the two investigations undertaken in relation to this school since May 2013 have now been shown in material respects to be flawed,” Cobb commented in his ruling.

While the adjudicator “endeavoured to fulfil his responsibilities conscientiously for the long-term benefit of the school, the candidates and their parents,” the rulings could not be upheld.

“This will be of little comfort to the school which has, I am sure, found this process extremely challenging,” Cobb added.

The judge noted there was little common ground between the parties, which included the Department for Education, and warned: “I fear that my conclusions do not necessarily signal the end of this lengthy process of investigation, which has already been ongoing for far too long.”

One of the oldest Catholic churches in England, London Oratory is a state-funded academy, able to set its own admissions rules within the boundaries of the schools admissions code.

David McFadden, London Oratory’s headmaster, said: “It is profoundly regrettable that the school – and other schools – have to expend precious resources, year after year, in standing up to the office of the schools adjudicator.

“These are key resources that should go to our children’s education and their future, not overturning ultimately flawed and unmeritorious decisions.”

Richy Thompson of the British Humanist Association, which led complaints against the admissions policy, said the school still faced 99 breaches of the admissions code. “Nothing has really been resolved with this judgment and much depends of further submissions and clarification,” he said.