QUEEN'S College in Taunton has had its first full inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate since the new headmaster Chris Alcock took over in 2002.

Mr Alcock said: "The team of inspectors found that our school very successfully matches up to its aims in almost every respect'.

"In all the key areas such as academic, pastoral and co-curricular activities the report has nothing but praise for Queen's."

The excellent relationship between staff and pupils is commented upon before the inspectors say "Good teaching encourages and challenges pupils to do their best in a secure, supportive and relaxed environment where all are valued."

Mr Alcock said: "I was particularly pleased to see how favourably the inspectors compared our GCSE and A-level results against those from fully selective schools in both the state and independent sectors.

"They recognised just how outstanding our results are in relation to the wide range of ability within the school and saw for themselves the care that goes into seeing that every pupil achieves their potential."

The inspectors were also fully supportive of the school's bold move four years ago in ending Saturday lessons, which they said "has led to radical improvements in the co-curricular programme and coincided with improved academic performance".

Mr Alcock added: "It was particularly gratifying that the inspectors found no significant weaknesses to rectify but instead urged us to extend the innovative teaching initiatives such as Virtual Learning Environments, use of the school intranet and video-conferencing across all departments."