A FATHER is battling with a faith school after his son failed to get entry on the grounds that his parent drinks alcohol and cuts his hair.

Kulvinder Sidhu, of Berwick Avenue, Hayes, was told that his 11-year-old child, Amardeep, would not be able to attend Guru Nanak Sikh Secondary School, in Springfield Road, Hayes, because the school operates a scoring system, and not abiding by Sikh principles means he failed to get enough points.

Mr Sidhu took his case to an appeals panel in May but this was unsuccessful, so he is now taking it up with the local government ombudsman and The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Mr Sidhu said: "The DCSF have told me that this is an unfair admissions process because, if there is a scoring system, then the parents should know about it and the criteria shouldn't be based on the parents but on the child.

"There are many parents who send their children to that school who do cut their hair."

He added that he does not grow his hair because he is disabled, and has limited use of his right arm which makes it difficult to wear a turban.

He said: "My son now has to go to Villiers High School in Southall when we are just within walking distance of Guru Nanak School."

Rajinder Sandhu, headteacher of the school, said: "We only have 120 places and there are 400 applications so there is a large percentage who naturally will be disappointed when they find out they are unsuccessful. We are a religious school and therefore our admissions questionnaire does try to find out whether the parents are following the principles of Sikhism.

Dr Kamwaljeet Kaur Singh, deputy director for the Network of Sikh Organisations, said: "Children are the responsibility of the parents and if the parents are not setting a good example how can we expect the child to follow the faith?"

Charles Heymann, a spokesperson for the DCSF, said: "We were made aware of this case in the last few days and are now following this up with school and religious authority.

"All schools, faith or not, have to comply with the School Admissions Code."