CKT and another -v- Twyford Church of England Academies Trust and another (anonymity order and application for judicial review)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim Number: AC-2024-LON-002899

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court

21 March 2025

In the matter of an application for judicial review

Before:
The Honourable Mr Justice Calver

Between:
The King on the application of
(1) CKT
(2) DGT, by his mother and litigation friend CKT
-v-
(1) Twyford Church of England Academies Trust
(2) Admissions Appeal Panel of Twyford Church of England High School

Notification of Judge’s Decision (CPR 54.11, 54.12)

Following consideration of the documents filed by the Claimants, the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence and the Claimants’ Reply

ORDER BY THE HON. MR JUSTICE CALVER

  1. Permission to apply for judicial review: Permission is granted on all grounds.

  2. Expedition: The Claimants’ application for expedition is refused.

  3. Extensions of time:
    (a) To the extent it is necessary, the court grants the Claimants an extension of time under CPR 3.1(2)(a) until 23 August 2024 in relation to their challenge to the relevant decision.
    (b) To the extent it is necessary, the Court grants the Defendants an extension of time under CPR 3.1(2)(a) until 19 February 2025 for the service of their Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Resistance.

  4. Anonymity:
    (a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or s.6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:
    (i) the Claimants’ names are to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public; and
    (ii) the First Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as CKT; the Second Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as DGT.
    (b) Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and s. 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimants or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimants in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.
    (c) Pursuant to CPR 5.4C(4):
    (i) the parties must within 7 days file a redacted copy of any statement of case filed, omitting the name, address and any other information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimants;
    (ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimants, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time;
    (iii) unless the Court grants permission under CPR 5.4C(6), no non-party many obtain a copy of any unredacted statement of case.
    (d) Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application, served on each party.

  5. Case Management Directions:
    (a) The Claimants have permission to rely on the updated Claim Bundle (containing an amended Claim Form replacement Statement of Facts and Grounds and/or any additional or updated written evidence) which was filed on 25 January 2025.
    (b) This claim shall be joined with Claim AC-2025-LON-000422, permission to apply for judicial review having been granted in that case also.
    (c) The Defendants must, within 35 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (i) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds and (ii) any written evidence to be relied on.
    (d) The Defendants may comply with sub-paragraph (c)(i) above by filing and serving a document which states that their Summary Grounds are to stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
    (e) Any application by the Claimants to serve evidence in reply must be filed and served, together with a copy of that evidence, within 21 days of the date on which the Defendants serve evidence pursuant to (c) above.
    (f) The parties must agree, together with any other parties in Claim AC-2025-LON-000422, the contents of the hearing bundle. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared and lodged, in accordance with the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide Chapter 21 and the Guidance on the Administrative Court website, not less than 28 days before the date of the substantive hearing. The parties must, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle.
    (g) The Claimants must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 21 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
    (h) The Defendants must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 14 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
    (i) The parties (together with any other parties in Claim AC-2025-LON-000422) must agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties must, if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, must be lodged with the Court not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
    (j) The time estimate for the substantive hearing of this claim and joined claim AC- 2025-LON-000422 is 2 days. If either party considers that this time estimate should be varied, they must inform the court as soon as possible.

OBSERVATIONS AND REASONS

(1) The grounds for judicial review are arguable.

(2) However, expedition is not justified. The First Claimant’s eldest child now attends another school within the Trust, namely Ada Lovelace High School and does not wish to attend Twyford Church of England Academy (“the School”). The Claimant’s middle child will not yet have applied for a place at the School for the 2026/27 year. The claim does, however, have a practical point to it for the reasons set out in paragraph 6 of the Reply.

(3) Extension of time: There was a good reason for not challenging the decision of 1 March 2024 within 3 months, namely that it would have been premature to do so prior to exhausting the statutory appeal process. The claim was filed on 23 August 2024, being within 3 months of 24 May 2024 (the date of the admission appeal panel decision).

(4) This claim should be joined with Claim AC-2025-LON-000422. The Claimants accept that “there is a very substantial overlap in the subject matter of both claims”, and they “both concern the lawfulness of the admission arrangements for the [School]” which are set by the Twyford Church of England Academies Trust (see Eversheds Sutherland’s letter dated 11.02.25). Whilst the court is mindful of keeping costs to a minimum, the Trust is a party to both claims (albeit as an Interested Party in the joined claim) and the PSED aspect of the Claim will have to be resolved in this claim in any event (meaning that a stay of this claim in favour of claim AC-2025-LON-000422 is not a viable course). Hearing both claims together rather than separately will reduce costs.