The government is set to remove the 50 per cent cap on faith-based admissions to free schools.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced the move this morning as part of a wide-ranging package of school reform, including an end to the ban on grammar schools in England.

Current rules allow new faith schools to select only half their intake by religion.

Mrs May also said she wanted faith schools to do more to make sure their pupils integrate with children from other backgrounds.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and the Board of Deputies were quick to welcome the measure.

Rabbi Mirvis said: “For many years, without the 50 per cent rule, the Jewish community proudly build schools which did not compromise on outstanding academic standards, an immersive Jewish atmosphere and a total commitment to promoting the values of integration and tolerance.

"I wholeheartedly support the government’s proposals, which will enable us to return to that arrangement.”

Vice-president Sheila Gewolb said: “We have been advocating for this for some time. The measure has inhibited the creation of Jewish schools and has not demonstrably improved community cohesion.

“We look forward to working with the government to enable more Jewish free schools to open and developing more effective means of their contributing to community cohesion."

Rabbi David Meyer, executive director of the Partnership for Jewish Schools, said Mrs May's announcement showed that the cap "has not achieved its desired objective, but instead, has disadvantaged certain segments of the Jewish community as well as other religious groups.

“It is important that the Prime Minister has recognised that faith schools are among the best performing schools in the country and add significantly to the cohesion and moral fabric of our society. We join in her determination to ensure the continued success of our schools.”

Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism, warned that diversity in schools should not be put at risk by the reform.

She said: “If the cap on faith-based admissions is to be removed, it is important that faith schools continue to be inclusive, valuing diversity and building bridges with the wider community and young people of other faiths and none”.

Rabbi Danny Rich, senior rabbi of Liberal Judaism, believed the measure was a step backwards.

"While inclusive faith schools may have a part to play in preparing students to take their place in the modern world, we do not believe the creation of more exclusively Jewish, Muslim or Christian schools will promote either social cohesion or strengthen Jewish life in the UK in the long term."