Wymondham College to drug test pupils under new policy

Wymondham College, the largest state boarding school in the country, has written to parents informing them of a new drugs policy at the site.

Under the rules, pupils suspected of drug use will be asked to supply urine samples for testing - and assumed guilty and punished if they refuse to participate.

The school is run by the Sapientia Education Trust, which has not ruled out introducing the policy at its other schools, which include Framingham Earl, City Academy Norwich and Attleborough Academy.

However, the trust has stressed that it has been introduced at Wymondham, to bring it closer into line with other boarding schools, which have already introduced similar policies.

Langley School, for instance, has used drug testing since 2021.

The policy, published on the school's website, says: "A refusal by a pupil to undergo a test, without good reason, will be deemed as an admission of guilt and will be dealt with as if a test was returned positive."

The testing could even be carried out on pupils under the age of 16, providing they are "of sufficient maturity and fully understand the situation".

Jonathan Taylor, chief executive of Sapientia Education Trust (Image: © Nick Dunmur 2012)

Sapientia chief executive Jonathan Taylor said parents had been "very supportive" of the policy and that it was bringing the college in line with independent boarding schools already following the approach.

He said: "We looked at best practice elsewhere nationally and pupil and parental feedback was considered - there was an overwhelmingly positive response to the suggestion.

"One of our trustees has first-hand experience of introducing it as a headteacher of a large independent boarding school - where it was very positively introduced."