When the Denbigh high school in Luton, Bedfordshire banned 16-year-old Shabina Begum from wearing a “Jilbab”, a full-length gown which covers the body and hair, she accused the head teachers and governors of denying her the "right to education and to manifest her religious beliefs".
Last March, the court appeal ruled in her favor, saying that the school ban violated human rights, a ruling that was described by her lawyers as a victory which would "give hope and strength to other Muslim women”.
The Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the appeal court's ruling.
MCB Secretary General, Iqbal Sacranie, said: "This is a very important ruling on the issue of personal freedoms. Many other schools have willingly accommodated Muslim schoolgirls wearing the jilbab."
The school, where 79% of pupils are Muslim, said it had lost the case “due to a small technical breach of the Human Rights Act.”
It says that the style of clothes Shabina wants to wear is in breach of its uniform policy, which had been agreed with Islamic groups. Several forms of Muslim dress are allowed at the school but the jilbab is not one of them.
“The judges accepted that the school is entitled to have a uniform policy and could see nothing wrong with it. The policy will be reviewed as it always is annually," the school said.
Shabina was excluded when she was 14 and has not returned to Denbigh High since winning her case, but has attended another Luton school.
Correspondents say that her case will test the use of the Human Rights Act in school exclusions.