The UK's charity watchdog appointed an interim manager at a trust running an Islamic faith school rated among the UK’s worst.
The Charity Commission launched a second inquiry into the Rabia Educational Trust, which operates the Rabia Girls and Boys School in Luton, near London, after it admitted pupils despite being banned from doing so.
The appointment was made to assess the school’s viability.
In 2020, the institution became the first registered independent school prosecuted by the UK government after years of failings and is the only school to be classed as inadequate in four consecutive inspections.
The trust is under investigation for breaking rules imposed by the Department of Education and the watchdog is examining concerns over its administration and governance, including trustees’ persistent failure to meet standards for independent schools.
"The commission continues to have serious concerns about the charity’s administration and governance," it said in a statement.
"It therefore exercised its powers under the Charities Act 2011 to appoint an interim manager, who will assess the future viability of the charity to the exclusion of its trustees.
"Depending on the outcome of this initial assessment, the interim manager’s role may vary, for example, to improve the charity’s operation or to take steps to wind up the charity."
The Rabia Girls and Boys School is subject to regulatory action by the DoE, including its potential removal from the independent schools' register.
In a landmark prosecution last year, the Rabia trust was fined £8,000 ($11,178) and its chairman, Zafar Iqbal Khan, £4,000 for breaching operating conditions.
Ofsted inspectors found that the school was admitting new pupils despite being forbidden from doing so because of failure to adequately provide for children's welfare.
An investigation in 2016 found Rabia guilty of misconduct, and trustees were issued with a legal order requiring them to follow the requirements of the government’s educational regulator Ofsted.
The watchdog said it “has since kept the charity under close review and provided further regulatory advice and guidance”.
“Whilst some progress has been made, the trustees have persistently failed in the requirement to meet the Independent Schools Standards,” it said.
“In May, the charity and its chairman were convicted for breaching operating conditions imposed by the Secretary of State for Education. Ofsted inspectors had found evidence that the school was admitting new pupils despite being prohibited from doing so due to successive safeguarding and welfare failings.
“As a result of this, and the failure to comply with regulatory advice and guidance, the commission has opened a new inquiry into the charity.”
The school, which charges annual fees of £1,950 to £2,300, was open throughout the court case and inquiry.
Rabia has been rated inadequate by school inspectors since 2014 and previously held only a satisfactory rating.
Inspectors discovered in September 2019 that it continued to admit pupils.
Last year, it was one of seven schools banned from accepting new pupils for persistently failing to meet standards. Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman said the conviction against the trust was unprecedented.
“If schools have a restriction imposed on them because of their repeated failure to meet basic standards, they must comply with it. If not, they are liable to prosecution and significant financial penalties,” she said.
“This unprecedented conviction sends out a strong message.”
Under enforcement action, the DoE has powers to forbid schools from taking on new pupils and even order the closure of a school.
