The House of Lords has agreed to hear an appeal from JFS against the Court of Appeal ruling that its admissions policy is unlawful.

When the case is heard, it will come before the new Supreme Court which is replacing the Lords.

Appeal judges ruled at the end of June that Jewish schools cannot admit children on the basis of parental Jewish descent since that contravened the Race Relations. As a result, Jewish schools are having to revise entry policies for next year by basing them on the family’s religious observance.

The case was brought on behalf of “M”, a boy refused a place at JFS in 2007 because his mother converted to Judaism under non-Orthodox auspices and thus considered not Jewish by the Office of the Chief Rabbi.

Dr Simon Hochhauser, President of the United Synagogue, said: “We are pleased with the House of Lord’s decision to grant JFS leave to appeal and we will be seeking permission to intervene. The responsibility for educating our children is one of Judaism’s most fundamental principles. We will support JFS’s endeavours to overturn the Court of Appeal’s judgment in order to secure the school’s ethos, as well as to protect the many other schools that are affected detrimentally by the ruling.”