Leicester Community Academy was established in August 2016. It is an independent Islamic faith school for pupils aged 11 to 16 years. It is owned by Leicester Educational Trust and run by a board of trustees. Prospective pupils are required to undertake an admissions test. The school operates a policy of strict segregation by sex. The building is on two floors. The girls are educated on the ground floor and the boys are educated on the first floor. There are separate entrances for each sex. Boys and girls have different starting and finishing times and do not mix at break or lunchtimes. The school uses local parks for Inspection report: Leicester Community Academy, 23–25 January 2018 Page 13 of 16 breaktimes and the Spence Street Sports Centre for physical education. However, boys and girls are not allowed to mix during these breaktimes. As a result, pupils of the opposite sex are not allowed to mix while at school. The school’s website states that there is ‘no mixing of the pupils at the secondary level’. This policy of segregation by sex causes the pupils a detriment as they are denied the choice to socialise with the opposite sex, and the educational benefits of doing so. In 2017, the Court of Appeal affirmed that strict segregation by sex in schools is direct discrimination contrary to the Equality Act 2010. Following this judgement, the Secretary of State for Education has stated that schools which segregate by sex should be given time to cease the practice. Therefore, the school’s policy of segregation has not been taken into account in this inspection when determining the judgements. We intend to write to the Secretary of State and to suggest that he commissions a further inspection of the school in or after September 2018. Following September 2018, we will take any ongoing breach of the Equality Act 2010 arising from segregation into account in relation to key inspection judgements made. The school has one headteacher for the girls’ section and one headteacher for the boys’ section. There are 42 girls and 45 boys currently on roll. The school does not use any alternative provision. No pupils have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is the first full independent school inspection since the school opened. The pupils are mainly from the local Muslim community. There are a wide range of cultural backgrounds represented, including Indian, Pakistani and Somali.