Key Takeaways From The Recent Michaela Free School Judgment

The Michaela Free School's successful defence of a claim from a student challenging the school's ban on prayer rituals has been widely reported on this week. In our latest piece, Alex Temple from our Education team takes a look at the ruling and what this potentially means for religious freedom in educational settings.

Background to the case

The school in question is well known for its strict behavior policies and regimented school day, with its headteacher boasting it is the "strictest school in Britain". The school has not historically banned prayer rituals, but says that before March 2023 no students took up the option of doing prayers in school hours. There was some dispute over this but, in any event, what was true is that the school had explicitly refused to have a prayer room on school grounds, despite half the student body being Muslim.