23 September 2014

Camden school bans Muslim teenager from taking A-levels because she wears the niqab

A Muslim teenager has been barred from starting her A-levels at one of London’s top state schools because she wears a full-face veil.

The 16-year-old, who has studied at Camden School for Girls for five years, decided to wear the traditional Islamic niqab to cover her hair and face when she returned this month to start in the sixth form.

But the north London school is refusing to allow the girl to begin her A levels if she insists on wearing the veil.

Although the school, whose alumni include campaigner Sarah Brown, the wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and actress Emma Thompson, has no uniform, it says the niqab goes against an appearance policy. [Evening Standard] Read more