An ‘inadequate’ Epsom Christian school which is set to close after a damning Ofsted report has been slammed by a secular group, who say they will be ‘no great loss to education in Surrey’.

The Cornerstone School, in West Hill, Epsom, was condemned by the watchdog’s chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw on a number of counts, including the fact pupils ‘said they had a limited view of the world’.

It was rated ‘inadequate’ in each category.

Your Local Guardian:

The Cornerstone School, which is set for closure

The report added pupils ‘were not given sufficient opportunities to learn about different cultures and the perspectives of others'.

Following the report the school's headteacher Grahame Davies announced he would be stepping down, forcing the private school to close.

Mr Davies wrote last week: "The mountain of demands made by Ofsted meant that, after over 27 years as headteacher, I felt I was not the person to take the school forward.

"Our unique setting means that this is much easier said than done, so the governors realised they had little option but to close the school."

A number of parents have contacted the Epsom Guardian to give their support.

One wrote: "The Cornerstone School has taught my children 'blessed are the peacemakers' from The Beatitudes and 'You mustn't kill' from the Ten Commandments. How then, with the world's current problems, is that being intolerant or inadequate?"

Another said: "Our academic results are nothing short of outstanding. For 27 years we have produced young people who have gone on to higher education and become doctors, lawyers, social workers and mechanics."

And Sutton Grammar School which has taken on a number of Cornerstone students when they leave aged 16, came to its defence.

Sixth Form head Giles Marshall said: "It has always been a pleasure to welcome Cornerstone students to the school. They proved to be well-rounded, intelligent and very adaptable young men.

"All of them adapted well and quickly to a new educational environment, making friends readily and proving to be socially at ease."

But the National Secular Society, which campaigns for secular democracy, welcomed Ofsted’s report, saying the schools should ‘educate rather than indoctrinate’.

NSS campaigns manager, Stephen Evans said: "The closure of this school is no great loss to education in Surrey.

"All children and young people should be entitled to a broad and balanced education.

"Schools like Cornerstone deny children and young people this right and the opportunity to develop their own beliefs and values.

"The point of properly regulating and inspecting schools is to ensure that children aren’t being left to languish in inadequate schools that are more interested in telling pupils what to think rather than how to think."

In 2005 Cornerstone was one of four faith schools to attempt to overturn a ban on smacking pupils, arguing the law infringed their religious freedom to provide a Bible-based education.

Prior to the Ofsted report the school taught just 37 pupils between the ages of five and 16, but that number has dwindled to just 15.