AN education watchdog has inspected a prestigious grammar school following allegations of sexual abuse.

Ofsted carried out an unannounced visit to Colchester Royal Grammar School.

The visitation came after former student Scarlett Mansfield, 26, published a blog post about the facility having a “toxic male culture”.

A spokesman for the school said: “We welcome the fact that we were visited by the Ofsted inspection team.

“We worked closely with the inspectors during their time with us to help them review every aspect of life at Colchester Royal Grammar School.

“Until the report is published we are unable to comment on any of the findings, but we look forward to sharing them with our community when we are able to.”

The Lexden based school said it recognises some of the barriers which deter students from reporting incidents.

So the facility is considering a number of avenues including using online forms where students can report specific incidents, as well as an anonymous reporting system to raise its awareness of issues, to a range of senior student listeners who would represent minority groups for those who might find reporting to staff more difficult.

Ofsted recently published plans for a review into safeguarding policies relating to sexual abuse in schools across the country.

A spokesman for the watchdog said: “We will publish our report in due course.”

Parents have been able to submit their comments on Ofsted’s website.

The school was rated outstanding in its last inspection.