Court of Appeal Upholds Twyford School’s Anglican Admissions Criteria

What was the admissions dispute?

In R (CKT and DGT) v Twyford Church of England Academies Trust and Others [2026] EWCA Civ 1364, handed down on 22 October 2026, the Court of Appeal considered the admission arrangements for Twyford Church of England High School. The appellants challenged the refusal of a place for CKT’s son for the 2024–2025 school year and the dismissal by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) of an objection to materially similar arrangements for 2025–2026.

CKT, who is originally from Eritrea, and her son regularly attended an Eritrean Orthodox Church in London. They received points for Christian worship, but did not receive the additional point reserved for families whose main place of worship was a Church of England church. Because successful applicants needed 21 points in the relevant admissions round, the distinction affected the outcome of the application.

The appellants argued that the criterion amounted to indirect race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and that the Trust had failed to comply with its public sector equality duty. The High Court dismissed their claims, and they appealed.

How did the points system work?

Twyford School had 190 places for the relevant year: 150 foundation (Christian) places, 21 world-faith places and 19 specialist music scholarship places. For foundation places, applicants could receive up to 20 points based on the length and frequency of the child’s and parent or carer’s attendance at qualifying Christian services.

A further point was awarded where the family’s main place of worship was a Church of England church, including churches in communion with it. In recent years, demand meant that applicants generally needed all 21 points to secure a foundation place.

The disputed point therefore did not exclude all non-Anglican Christian applicants from applying, but it gave priority to families whose main place of worship was Anglican. The court considered the effect of that distinction alongside the Trust’s stated aim of preserving the school’s Anglican character and ethos.

What did the Court of Appeal decide?

The court dismissed the appeals. It upheld the finding that the admissions criterion put people who were not white or not of English ethnic origin at a particular disadvantage. The court then considered whether the Trust had established that the criterion was a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, as required by section 19 of the Equality Act 2010.

The court concluded that preserving the Anglican ethos of a designated Church of England school was a legitimate aim. Having reviewed the evidence and the statutory framework for faith schools, it found no legal error in the High Court’s assessment that the additional point was proportionate to that aim.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the High Court had been entitled to accept the Trust’s evidence and uphold the criterion as proportionate.

The court also dismissed the challenge relating to the OSA’s decision on the 2025–2026 arrangements. As the relevant grounds of appeal failed, there was no basis for finding the OSA’s determination unlawful.

Why was the criterion upheld?

The Trust’s evidence was that Twyford School had a distinctive Anglican character and that the admissions arrangements were intended to maintain that ethos. The Court of Appeal held that the statutory framework recognises a public interest in preserving faith-based schools, and that this was relevant to the proportionality assessment.

The appellants argued that less discriminatory arrangements were available, including following the London Diocesan Board for Schools’ strong recommendation that schools maintain an equal split between foundation and open places. The court considered the High Court’s treatment of those arguments and concluded that the judge had addressed the substance of the proportionality question and was entitled to reach the decision on the evidence presented.

The judgment does not mean that every faith-based admissions criterion will automatically be lawful. The conclusion was based on the specific arrangements, the evidence about Twyford School’s ethos, the available places at other Trust schools and the statutory framework considered in this case.

What did the court say about equality duties?

The appellants also argued that the Trust had not properly discharged the public sector equality duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. That duty requires public authorities, when exercising their functions, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share protected characteristics and those who do not.

The Court of Appeal accepted that the Trust knew its admissions arrangements could have equality impacts. It considered the Trust’s awareness of its statutory obligations, the potential effect of the Anglican worship criterion on different racial groups, the diocesan guidance on inclusive admissions and the Trust’s reasons for adopting its chosen approach.

On that evidence and in the context of the decision being made, the court held that the High Court was entitled to conclude that the Trust had complied with section 149. It therefore dismissed the relevant ground of appeal as well.

The court did not need to decide the separate argument about whether a remedy should have been refused under section 31(2A) of the Senior Courts Act 1981, because it found no breach of the public sector equality duty. The appeals were dismissed.