Mark Turner, a former Army captain, who has become the new headmaster of Abingdon School, admits to being a "firm but fair" disciplinarian.

He promises a rigorous learning environment and new initiatives on drugs and bullying.

Mr Turner, 40, took over this week as headmaster of the 900-strong independent school, succeeding Michael St John Parker who retired after 26 years in the post.

Mr Turner said: "Initially my main job will be to preserve and enhance the school's rich reputation built up over centuries.

"At the same time there is a lot I want to do to tighten up on some disciplinary areas. I shall launch initiatives on drugs and bullying. These areas are not a problem at Abingdon School but are something that all schools have to be aware of."

Mr Turner said he wanted to build on the best of the past and take the school on a five-year, £2m improvement programme.

He said: "My philosophy is to try to create a school with a rigorous learning environment and at the same time a school with the best family values and an atmosphere of compassion."

After gaining a degree in geography at Mansfield College, Oxford, Mr Turner served four years with the Royal Artillery. From the Army, Mr Turner did a post-graduate course in education at Cambridge. He was a housemaster at Oundle before moving to Kelly College in Tavistock in north Devon.

He said army life taught him self-discipline and how to lead people much older than himself, knowledge that was valuable when he took up his first headship at the age of 32 at Kelly College.

Mr Turner acknowledged the increasing pressures on pupils. He said: "Schools must always be aware that pupils can in certain circumstances be overloaded and there is no doubt that developments over the last ten years have put much pressure on staff and pupils. We are moving into a modern world where we have to be accountable. Courses have to be rigorous and that implies pressure. We must have some way of testing whether pupils are achieving their mark."

Mr Turner's wife Elizabeth is also a teacher. They have two sons, Alexander, five, and Gideon, three.