Leader of faith school that sex-segregated pupils and staff banned

Posted: Mon, 14th Apr 2025

Islamic school closed down after failing Ofsted inspectors for seven years and admitting new pupils despite ban.

The National Secular Society has welcomed a ban on a school proprietor whose school segregated staff and pupils according to sex.

Zafar Iqbal Khan, former proprietor of Rabia Girls' and Boys' School, has been prohibited from managing independent schools, academies and free schools, according to a notice published by the Department for Education today. He is also barred from serving as a school governor at maintained schools.

Rabia Girls' and Boys' school was an Islamic independent school in Luton. It closed in 2021 after failing Ofsted inspections for seven years.

In 2016, Rabia was referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission for sex-segregating staff. Women were forced to sit in a separate room during staff training, with sessions broadcast to them. During a meeting with inspectors, the school "insisted" on using a dividing screen to separate male and female staff.

The school also hosted radical clerics and alleged terrorist sympathisers. The regulator expressed concern that school had failed to protect pupils from potentially harmful views.

In 2017, Ofsted inspectors found Rabia was limiting girls to "knitting and sewing" in design and technology and failing to teach British values adequately.

Rabia was barred from admitting new pupils in 2019. But it was prosecuted the following year after inspectors found evidence it was continuing to admit pupils.

NSS: Many other faith schools "repeatedly failing to meet standards"

NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "We welcome the DfE's decision to bar Zafar Iqbal Khan from managing schools.

"It is unacceptable for a school leader to prioritise religious dogma over the education and welfare of children.

"There are many other schools throughout the country which are repeatedly failing to meet standards because they put religious ideology before children's needs. We urge the DfE to ensure all leaders at faith schools who refuse to comply with the standards are held to account."

Media coverage:

Join the NSS!

Joining the NSS as a member is the best way to support our work. Become part of the movement for a freer, fairer, secular society. Sign up today for as little as £2.