St Paul's School is a boys' independent school, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43 acre (17 hectare) site by the River Thames, in Barnes, London. It is one of the original nine British public schools, the so-called 'Clarendon Schools' investigated by the Clarendon Commission set up in 1861  – however it was argued successfully that the school should be omitted from the Public Schools Act 1868. Since 1881, St Paul's has had its own preparatory school, Colet Court, which since 1968 has been located on the same site. According to its position in the national tables of GCSE and A level performance, and with the second highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rates of any secondary school or college in Britain, St Paul's is considered one of the leading schools in the country. The school is currently being rebuilt and expanded.