A SOMERSET private school is one of the best in the country, according to the Carfax Education Schools Index.

Millfield School, in Street, has made it onto the 30-strong list of the best independent senior schools, alongside Cheltenham Ladies College and Eton College in Windsor.

The school has made it onto the list partly thanks to its "strong sense of community", extensive sport facilities and wide range of academic subjects.

The Carfax Education Index reads: "Millfield encourages pupils to be curious and to be disruptors, offering plenty of opportunities to engage and to challenge.

"There is an extensive range of academic subjects, on offer with over 33 A Level and BTECs and an academic enrichment programme which allows pupils to meet and debate with professors, politicians and poets.

"Head, Gavin Horgan, is proud that 'the school has inspired generations of pupils to immerse themselves in The Millfield Way to discover their personal brilliance.'

"There is a strong sense of community which celebrates all aspects of their pupils’ achievements.

"The outstanding sports facilities with an Olympic pool, cricket and equestrian centres and extensive sports pitches across its 240-acre campus, have trained and nurtured 54 Olympians at the last count."

Millfield is described as being "distinctly different."

It's website explains further: "Millfield is distinctively different.

"From its foundation in 1935 through to the present day the school has inspired generations of children to immerse themselves in The Millfield Way to discover their unique brilliance.

"The original principles the school was built upon are still prevalent today. Millfield has the resource and attitude to bring together key staff to provide an education and experience that honours the individual child at the centre.

"This doesn’t happen in other schools. Academic study, cultural and sporting endeavours set every child on the path to success.

"We are diverse in a way that others are not; we are of a scale that others are not; we have ambitions for our children that others do not.

"We encourage our children to question and challenge and ask why? To be bold, to be honest; we champion the voice of each child, we are disruptors for positive change, and we seek new and better ways to do things.

"We want to be at the forefront of child development, they are the future. We help each individual to discover their own brilliance."

Well-known faces that have attended the school include singer/songwriter Lily Allen, who attended Millfield Prep School in 1996-97 and Formula One driver Lando Norris, who attended Millfield Prep School and Millfield Senior School, to list just a couple.