A Muslim girl has won her battle to wear traditional "head-to-toe" dress in the classroom after the Court of Appeal ruled her school had acted unlawfully in barring her.
Shabina Begum, 15, accused the head teachers and governors of Denbigh High School in Luton, Bedfordshire, of denying her the "right to education and to manifest her religious beliefs''.
The teenager had worn the shalwar kameez (trousers and tunic) from when she entered the school at the age of 12 until Sept 2002.
But she was sent home after telling the school she was going to start wearing a full length gown-type garment called a jilbab, a decision which led to a series of court cases.
Lord Justice Brooke, vice president of the civil division of the Court of Appeal, ruled today that the school had unlawfully excluded her, unlawfully denied her the right to manifest her religion and unlawfully denied her access to suitable and appropriate education.
He called on the Department of Education to give schools more guidance on how to comply with their obligations under the Human Rights Act.
After the judgment, Shabina, now 16 and attending a school where the jilbab is allowed, said: "Today's decision is a victory for all Muslims who wish to preserve their identity and values despite prejudice and bigotry.
"The decision of Denbigh High School to prevent my adherence to my religion cannot unfortunately be viewed as merely a local decision taken in isolation.
"Rather it was a consequence of an atmosphere that has been created in Western societies post 9/11, an atmosphere in which Islam has been made a target for vilification in the name of the 'war on terror'."
In a statement, Denbigh High School said the case had been lost on a technicality and said the school was proud of its multiracial policy.
Miss Begum's local education authority, Luton Borough Council, said that all schools would now be advised to take pupils' religion into account when imposing school uniform rules.
Miss Begum was represented at the appeal court by Cherie Booth QC, who told the judges at a hearing last December that the case involved "fundamental issues'' about the nature and interpretation of her rights to education and freedom to practise her religion.
Last June at the High Court judge Mr Justice Bennett dismissed Miss Begum's application for judicial review, ruling she had failed to show that the "highly successful'' 1,000-pupil school, where 79 per cent of the students are Muslims, had excluded her or breached her human rights.
The school was ordered to pay costs to the legal aid authorities which funded Miss Begum's appeal.