The government has shelved plans by the previous Conservative administration to lift the restriction on free schools offering places according to faith.
Faith free schools currently may admit only 50 per cent of their pupils on the basis of religion.
But following a consultation launched by the then Conservative government last summer, the Department for Education has now announced that it “will not be moving forward with these proposals at this time and will continue to keep these policy areas under review”.
The DfE said that two-thirds of respondents to the consultation opposed the removal of the faith cap.
In practice, most applicants to Jewish free schools are Jewish. Although only half can be accepted on the basis of their religion, others may enter on other grounds such as living near the school.
The plan to remove the cap on places had been welcomed by both the Chief Rabbi and PaJeS, the Jewish schools’ network.
It was also seen as a positive step that might encourage the creation of more strictly Orthodox state schools.
Most Charedi children go to independent schools but the government’s new tax policies — imposing VAT on fees and removing the business rates discount — has raised fears over the continuing viability of some of these schools.
Free schools were introduced in 2010 to make it easier for groups to set up new state schools.
Under the older voluntary-aided system, new religious schools required approval from their local authority — but they had full control over admissions, unlike free schools.
The previous government had favoured free schools over voluntary-aided schools, but the current Labour administration has indicated the voluntary-aided option will remain open.
