The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in two joined cases of CKT & Anor, R (On the Application Of) v Twyford Church of England Academies Trust & Ors [2026] EWCA Civ 1364 (22 October 2026).
These two claims concerned whether a faith-based oversubscription criteria within the admission arrangements of Twyford Church of England High School (“the school” or “Twyford”) was indirectly discriminatory contrary to sections 19 and 85 of the Equality Act 2010 (“2010 Act”) and whether the Twyford Church of England Academies Trust (“the Trust”) had complied with its duty under section 149 of the 2010 Act.
The religious criterion in question involved the award of an additional one point (above the 20 points awarded to those of the Christian faith) to applicants where the family’s main place of worship was at a Church of England church or Churches in Communion with the Church of England (the “Extra Point”). It was said by the Claimants that this Extra Point placed the Claimants who were Eritrean, and while Christian, did not attend an Anglican Church, at a particular disadvantage, as compared to Christians who were white, and this discriminatory effect had not been justified by the Trust.
The claim against the Trust also alleged a continuing breach of the public sector equality duty (“PSED”) under section 149 of the EA by the Trust in adopting, maintaining and applying the impugned criterion (the Extra Point).
The Claimant’s were unsuccessful in the High Court and both appeals were dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
The case overview from the High Court judgment can be found here.
The full judgment can be found here.
Peter Oldham KC acted for the Trust.
Tom Cross KC acted for the OSA.
Joanne Clement KC and Zoe Gannon acted for the Secretary of State for Education.
