Davda (Appellant) v The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (Respondent)

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2025/0033

Parties

Appellant(s)

Roopesh Davda

Respondent(s)

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Issue

Did the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (“IFA”) directly discriminate against Mr Davda on the basis of his British nationality by treating him less favourably than Indian nationals with respect to the number of opportunities he had to pass qualifying actuary examinations?

Facts

Mr Davda is a British national who wishes to become a fellow of the IFA. The IFA is a global actuarial regulator and a “qualifications body” for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (“EqA”). Before 2019, to become a fellow, Mr Davda had to pass 15 examinations. The IFA curriculum changed from 2019 onwards. To be exempt from examinations under the new curriculum, existing students had to pass equivalent examinations under the old curriculum by the end of 2018. In some cases, passes in two examinations were needed to be exempt from a single examination under the new curriculum. The IFA provides exemptions for all members of the Indian Actuarial Institute (“IAI”) who pass equivalent IAI examinations, because the syllabus and examination structure is identical. IAI has a policy of not admitting British nationals as members (according to the findings of the Employment Tribunal), whereas the IFA admits students from across the world. In the relevant period, the IFA had more Indian than British student members. The IFA and IAI each have two examination sittings per year (respectively, April and September, and May and October). Before the Employment Tribunal, Mr Davda brought a number of discrimination claims relating to this system. Only the claim of direct race (nationality) discrimination under section 13 EqA is relevant to this appeal. Mr Davda argued that the IFA gave its Indian members twice the number of opportunities to pass the examinations to qualify as a fellow as its British members had. Indian members could sit both sets of examinations, with a pass in either set recognised by the IFA. That was particularly significant during the transition period before the introduction of the new IFA curriculum.

Date of issue

25 February 2025

Case origin

PTA

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