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St. Benedict's School (Senior) An independent co-educational Roman Catholic School next to the Benedictine Abbey from where it takes some of its teaching staff. The School has a proud history. Founded in 1902 by the monks of Downside Abbey, the monastery at Ealing became an independent community in December 1947, achieving the status of an abbey in 1955. Alumni include Chris Patten, Andy Serkis, Peter Ackroyd, Denis MacShane and Julian Clarey. The school is now fully co-educational, with girls in all years from Form Three (Year 7) through to Upper Sixth (Year 13). The school has first class facilities and has recently invested very heavily in IT to give itself excellent resources in that area. A new sports pavilion was opened in 2005 at the school's extensive playing fields. In October 2008 the new £6.2 million Cloisters development was opened. This has transformed the School, providing connection across three levels with a central, multi-purpose hall, state of the art facilities for Music and Modern Languages, a chapel, fourteen extra classrooms and a new school reception and medical facility. Success on the rugby pitch (the school was national schools champion in 2005 at U15 level and U18 finalists in 2008) has meant that the academic performance of the school is often underestimated. Girls’ sport has come on enormously with the Senior girls touring Sri Lanka in February 2009 and winning three out of four matches. Pastoral responsibilities towards pupils are given primacy meaning that St. Benedict's tends not to go in for the ruthless weeding out of "underperforming" students employed by some other West London independent schools. Nevertheless pass rates at GCSE level are better than many academically selective schools and it does manage to consistently foster excellence, sending a steady stream of pupils to top universities. In 2009 10 out of 91 members of the sixth form went to Oxbridge. Fees are £3,920 per term (2009/2010) with scholarships and bursaries available. The school received a very positive report from the Independent School's Inspectorate in February 2010. How do you get in? The school has entrance exams at 11+ and 13+. Most children at the Junior school go straight through to the senior school. Contact details
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