A LAKE District school is celebrating the start of the new academic year by being placed near the top of sixth form league tables for independent schools.

Windermere School has been ranked 21st in a list of the top 250 independent schools in the country as published by The Times. The Telegraph placed Windermere School 37th in its list of the top 300 independent schools.

Windermere School says the rankings are even more impressive considering that many of the schools lists in the tables are selective, while Windermere School is non-selective.

This news follows a record year in terms of International Baccalaureate and BTEC results, as well as some very impressive GCSE and IGCSE results.

Headmaster Ian Lavender was understandably delighted. The Windermere School head said: “This is fantastic news and a wonderful way to begin a new academic year. This achievement is made all the more impressive by the fact that, as a school, we remain steadfastly non-selective, yet our position in these tables places us well above some highly selective national institutions.”

The tables are compiled by the Independent Schools Council and are based on figures collected from 452 schools across the country.

This year mixed schools were the strongest performers, making up all of the top five, seven of the top 10 and 26 of the top 50.

Mr Lavender was also full of praise for the students and staff at the school, and said: “I am extremely proud of the students and the staff, both at Browhead and Elleray. I know everyone goes the extra mile to help the school achieve results like this, so I would like to offer my congratulations to all involved. We have gone from being the best in region to one of the best nationally.”