Ofsted judges Colchester Royal Grammar School inadequate

Ofsted inspectors found "a significant number of pupils felt uncomfortable or unsafe" at Colchester Royal Grammar School

A top grammar school accused of having a "toxic rape culture" by an ex-pupil has been rated inadequate by Ofsted.

Allegations of serious sexual assault from past and present students were made after Scarlett Mansfield wrote a blog about her experience at Colchester Royal Grammar School.

Inspectors have found "parts of the school have become a hostile environment for some pupils".

Headmaster John Russell said the report was "very difficult" to read.

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The boys' selective state grammar school admits girls as students into the sixth form.

Inspectors said while the academic education pupils received was of a "very high standard", students reported "being the subject of insulting and damaging comments regarding their gender, appearance, race or sexual orientation" and warned safeguarding systems did "not work properly".

"Leaders have not ensured that boys understand how to interact appropriately with girls," the Ofsted report said."Consequently, some boys are rude about girls, judge them by their appearance and make inappropriate remarks."

Scarlett Mansfield said she had been contacted by Colchester Royal Grammar School pupils "in droves" after writing about the school

In April, Ms Mansfield, who attended the school between 2011 and 2013, wrote a 3,000-word blog about her time there.

The 26-year-old alleged that one male pupil locked himself in two different girls' cars and refused to leave until he received a sex act from them.

The freelance writer said that an "undeniable toxic and ubiquitous rape culture was prevalent throughout" the school.

She said she "felt so validated" by the Ofsted report and it showed there had been "safeguarding failures on a massive proportion" .

Ms Mansfield said the head master and head of the board of governors should resign.

"The goal now should be minimising the number of students that experience harassment and assault at the hands of other students," she said.

'Change is needed'

An unannounced inspection was carried out by Ofsted following a BBC Three investigation which uncovered a number of allegations of serious sexual assault, from students past and present, as well as claims the school has been complicit in letting sexism run rife.

The report said while leaders at the school had "started to work on" ensuring everyone was treated with respect, it had "not driven the change which is needed".

A former student and parent of a current pupil said the report "confirms what many of us feared after reading those chilling reports from past CRGS pupils".

The report said the school "does not prepare boys well enough" for the introduction of female students in sixth form

In a statement Mr Russell said: "We have never shied away from the fact that we believe that there is always more that we can, and want, to do for our students."

He said although he felt the "strengths of the school are not fully reflected in the report", he will "listen to what the inspection team found and continue to act upon that".

"Key to this will be continuing to enhance our culture where our students show greater respect for themselves and for others, and eliminating the use of derogatory and discriminatory language," he said.

Ms Mansfield has called for the resignation of Mr Russell in the wake of the report. The school said it would not comment further.