A small Lubavitch school that is barred from admitting new pupils is still failing to meet a number of independent school standards, Ofsted has reported.

Lubavitch Senior Boys’ School in London, which caters for 11 to 13-year-olds, has just nine pupils in Year 8 with none in Year 7.

According to Ofsted, the Department for Education wrote to the school earlier this year to “confirm the secretary of state for Education’s intention to remove the school from the register of independent schools”.

In early 2022, the school was told it could not accept new pupils after an inspection that rated it inadequate.

In 2018, it had 25 pupils. It shares premises with the Lubavitch Yeshiva Katana, which educates boys aged from 13 to 16.

In its latest inspection of the senior school, Ofsted said there had been some recent improvements to the curriculum, with an increase in secular lessons in the afternoon from two to three.

But although boys now had access to “a small range” of books to read for pleasure, there was “no creative education”, inspectors said.

Leaders had done “little since the previous inspection to develop the quality of education that pupils receive”, Ofsted found.

Pupils continued to have “limited knowledge” of other faiths, beliefs and cultures other than their own. Rabbi Pesach Efune, chair of the school, declined to comment.

In the meantime, there are plans to provide education for the age group elsewhere within the Lubavitch network.

Judith Nemeth, executive headteacher of the Lubavitch Multi-Academy Trust, which runs the state-aided junior boys’ and girls’ primary and secondary schools, said: “We are in discussion with members of the community who are interested in a linked provision with the trust for Key Stage 3 boys, commencing September 2024.”

Of the nine independent schools listed on the DfE website as being under enforcement action, six are Jewish.