And she had felt “excluded” by St Edward’s after seeing all her classmates at primary school awarded a place.

And he said while contending with the school’s rejection, “she had to watch her grandad in a hospital bed in our living room being fed through a tube” due to his motor neurone disease.

He died in September last year.

“She was 11 and needed stability, if there was ever a time it was then.”

The father said the hefty legal bill will cause “immense hardship” for the family.

Although a practising Catholic, the father was rejected by all three Catholic schools of choice – and only eventually secured a place at one of them on appeal.

This, he said, made a mockery of government claims that “the admissions system is now much fairer for parents and children”.

St Edward’s principal, John Waszek said: “It is abundantly clear that an eminent High Court judge, having considered all the evidence, has concluded that it is the college’s account and behaviour in this matter which is reliable.”

TO SEE a copy of the judgment, visit www.st-edwards.co.uk