The Charity Commission was informed about the allegations against monks and staff of a private school in North Yorkshire.
An investigation into the operation of a prestigious private school revealed several “serious abuse allegations” committed by staff and monks against students.
A report by the Charity Commission discovered “significant weakness” in the management, governance, and safeguarding of the two trusts responsible for running Ampleforth College, a Catholic private school in North Yorkshire established over 200 years ago by Ampleforth Abbey and Benedictine monks.
According to the report, the Amplefore Abbey Trust and the St Laurence Educational Trust experienced difficulties reforming their safeguarding procedures. They cautioned that ” they must continue to maintain high standards and ensure that, in the future, there is a robust safeguarding environment that protects vulnerable people who come into contact with charities.”
Ampleforth and its former prep schools have been the center of numerous cases of sexual assault children since the 1960s. The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse found that “appalling sexual was inflicted over decades on children as young as seven at the Ampleforth.”
Army Spiller, head of investigations at the Charity Commission, stated, “The enquiry found several weaknesses and failures in the approach to handling the safeguarding matters across both charities, which exposed pupils to risk of harm.”
“We recognise the progress made by both charities during the inquiry, including recent compliance with regulatory standards, but the findings of our inquiry underscored the importance of maintaining high safeguarding standards and rebuilding public trust.”
Ampleforth, nicknamed “the Catholic Eton,” was a boys-only boarding school that produced notable alumni such as writer and actor Julian Fellowes, artist Antony Gormley, and JCB chair Anthony Bamford. The college now accepts students and charges £32,000 per annum in day fees.
The Charity Commission launched a statutory probe in 2016 after allegations were published in the New York Times. Subsequently, investigators were informed of nine additional serious abuse allegations and convictions that had been documented at the school between 2014 and 2016 but had not yet been reported.
According to the investigation, “staff and monks in place at the time were reported to have committed against pupils in the majority of these cases.”
In 2018, the commission removed the safeguarding supervision from the charitable trust and selected a temporary manager who served there for more than two years.
However, the report stated serious weakness in the St. Laurence Educational Trust’s safeguarding policy and management persisted during the inquiry, “which has exposed pupils at the college at risk.”
The report outlines the school’s persistent inability to pass Ofsted and Independent Inspectorate inspections. The interim head of the college resigned in 2019 after a quick inspection revealed bullying and poor leadership, among other child protection risks. The Department of Education barred the college from accepting new students in 2020. An Ofsted inspection in 2021 found that the college’s leadership was inadequate and that “some younger pupils with identified special needs engaged in activity during the school day while not supervised well.”
Following an inspection in late 2023, Ofsed has assessed Ampleforth as “good.”
When asked why it had taken the panel more than seven years to be published, according to the report, “The length of the class inquiry has been impacted significantly by the charities satisfying the commission and other regulators of the effectiveness of safeguarding at both charities.”
