An Eastbourne school has been chosen as a national model of Christian education.

Bishop Bell Church of England School in Priory Road is one of only three schools in the UK to pilot a Government study.

It will look into why some Church of England schools perform academically better than non-Church schools.

The study is part of the Government's plan to develop 100 Faith Schools in the future.

Government think tank The Grubb Institute has been commissioned to study Bishop Bell's teaching of faith and use it to inform the Government's thinking.

Headteacher Terry Boatwright said: "We are really flattered to have been chosen as a model for the new Church schools.

"Though it is slightly daunting, it will be good to have someone spending a considerable amount of time analysing what makes us successful and feeding back those findings, not just to the Government but to us as well.

"Hopefully it will make us even more successful."

A spokesman for the institute, which is based in London, said the aim of the study was to improve the educational process rather than promote the Christian faith.

He said: "The proposal could be of critical importance to education in our society, not simply to Church schools, if we could discover the underlying reasons why some Church of England schools have improved their performance dramatically in relation to other schools' development, in particular secondary schools.

"Hopefully it will enable a better delivery of education to pupils to prepare them to participate in society more responsibly and effectively as citizens at work and in their families, and in turn be ready to give leadership to their own and succeeding generations."