A female governor was regularly forced to sit "out of sight" of her male counterparts during meetings at a Muslim faith school, inspectors have found.

The report, relating to the Darul Uloom Islamic High School, in Coventry Road, Birmingham, found the only way the woman could contribute to meetings was through a doorway.

Senior inspectors labelled the practice "unacceptable" as it failed to show "proper respect for women".

The findings were revealed in a letter from Ofsted Chief Inspector for England and Wales Sir Michael Wilshaw to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan relating to 22 faith schools which had been inspected in September and October this year.

Of the seven Christian schools and 15 Muslim schools, nine were found to be inadequate - according to inspectors.

A further eight were found to be in need of significant improvement, the letter said.

At the Al-Ameen Primary School, in Birmingham, pupils were not protected from "reading inappropriate literature about extremist, sexist or partisan views", Mr Wilshaw wrote.

He added: "Her Majesty's Inspectors found that inappropriate books in the school library were freely available to pupils. For example, the library contained a book asserting that women are less reliable than men as witnesses."

On the Darul Uloom Islamic High School, the report said: "The only female governor sat out of sight of the male governors in an adjacent room to the main meeting.

"As a result, she could only contribute to the meeting through a doorway. Governors told inspectors this was their usual arrangement.

"A senior inspector has pointed out to the school that this practice is unacceptable as it fails to show proper respect for women.

"The values and behaviours modelled by the governing body, including respect for women, will be a primary focus of the subsequent monitoring of this school by Her Majesty's Inspectors."

Pupils at Cornerstone School in Epsom said they had "a limited view of the world because their education was not providing them with sufficient opportunities to learn about people with differing backgrounds and perspectives to their own".

The letter concluded: "Of the 22 schools inspected by Her Majesty's Inspectors, only five were judged to be providing a good or better standard of education.

"As a result, more than 2,000 pupils are being educated in 17 schools where the education was judged not to be good enough. Of these, 1,019 pupils are in schools that Her Majesty's Inspectors have judged to be inadequate."

Mr Wilshaw said he had "serious concerns" with the findings and has recommended other faith schools - which used to be inspected by a separate body called the Bridge Schools Inspectorate until September this year - were re-evaluated by Ofsted officials as a priority.