Ampleforth College ordered to stop admitting pupils
The North Yorkshire boarding school has had "serious" failings
A North Yorkshire boarding school has been ordered to stop admitting new pupils - as a result of "serious failings".
The Department for Education ruled that Ampleforth College failed to meet safeguarding and leadership standards.
The prestigious Catholic school will appeal against the ruling, saying it is "unjustified and based on incorrect information."
It follows criticism of the institution in an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2018.
While he said the school has made some progress since 2018, education secretary Gavin Williamson ruled it was "too slow" and "insufficient."
A letter from the Department for Education said: "The Secretary of State also had regard to the fact that that the school is failing to meet the ISS independent school standards, including standards relating to safeguarding and leadership and management, and in his view, these failings are considered to be very serious.''
"The school failed to meet the ISS for more than a year before new leadership was brought in. In the year since then, the school has still not done enough to consistently meet the ISS, and in some respects the school appears to have relapsed.''
A spokeswoman for Ampleforth College said: "Ampleforth College notes the Department for Education's publication this afternoon of the intent to serve notice of an Enforcement Action.
"We will be appealing this on the basis that we believe, and have been advised, that it is unjustified and based on incorrect information.
"Given the very considerable steps forward that have been taken by the school to learn from the mistakes of the past and to put in place a robust safeguarding regime, a new senior leadership team, and a new governance structure that has effectively separated the Abbey from the College, we cannot understand why this decision has been taken, and we cannot understand why it has been published, given the appeals process is still open to us.
"As far as we are concerned, we will continue to educate our students to the very high standards they are used to in a safe and supportive environment.
"We have lodged a complaint to Ofsted and await the outcome of that complaint.''
In February this year, a former monk at Ampleforth College - who continued to abuse young boys after confessing to having sexual contact with a pupil - was jailed for more than 20 years.
Peter Turner, 80, sexually abused two boys after he was forced to leave Ampleforth College and sent away to work in a parish in Workington, Cumbria.
He had already served a previous jail sentence in 2005 after he admitted offences against 10 pupils at Ampleforth between 1979 and 1987.
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