Prestigious private schools are vying to offer a place to Olympic diver Tom Daley after his parents took him out of the state school where he was bullied.

Plymouth College - the alma mater of Dawn French and Michael Foot - and Brighton College, a leading independent, are competing to educate the 14-year-old whose skills on the diving board earnt him a place in the Beijing Olympics.

Tom’s parents have kept their son away from school since before the Easter holidays because bullying had reached an “intolerable level”.

Rob and Debbie Daley are now in discussions about a place at Plymouth College, which is home to an elite swimming club and charges up to £18,000 a year.

Mr Daley, 38, told The Times, “They understand the requirements of elite athletes.

“Academically Tom’s doing very well and that’s why we need to concentrate on his education.

The college said they would offer Tom a “very significant scholarship” to enable him to attend.

Dr Simon Wormleighton, headmaster of Plymouth College, said Tom would fit in well at the school, which has experience of dealing with pupils who are also high level athletes.

“We have very dedicated young people who have all the pressures of the international spot light but at school are able to be normal pupils and are able to follow an academic programme to get the results that they will need for the rest of their lives,” he told The Times.

Tom, who finished seventh in the men’s 10m platform event in Beijing, has also been offered a full scholarship to the £25,000 a year Brighton College.

“Tom is just the sort of young person we welcome here and I am confident he would fit in very well with the other pupils,” Richard Cairns, the headmaster at Brighton said.

“He would be very happy here and would be able to continue his sports career without the unnecessary added pressure of nasty bullies.”

But Mr Daley dismissed the generous offer. “Brighton is out of the question because it is too far away,” he said.

Tom is aware of the initial discussions with Plymouth College and is very keen to leave Eggbuckland Community College in Devon for good.

“Tom is diving at such a phenomenal level and that can’t stop but alongside he has got his bundles of school work and has to concentrate on that,” his father said.

Tom will go to Plymouth College when he returns from competing in Florida next month, if the abuse he has suffered since his return from the Olympics does not stop.

The diving prodigy was plagued by bullies who allegedly threatened to break his legs.

Mr Daley said: "[Tom's] not big headed, he’s not cocky, he doesn’t even talk about it at school. But he does get a lot of publicity and some kids don’t realise what the Olympics is, the scale of what Tom’s doing or the effort that he has to put in.”

His parents complained to the school on eleven occasions about the bullying but when teachers failed to act they removed Tom from class because the abuse had become unbearable and was threatening to affect his performance on the diving board.

Katrina Borowski, head of Eggbuckland Community College, said: "Tom’s extremely high profile has led to a minority of students acting in an immature way towards him.

“It is difficult for Tom to have a ‘normal’ school life with his celebrity status, but all involved in his education are supporting him as best we can and immediate action was taken to address concerns raised.

"We take the well being of our students extremely seriously and have a very clear policy for dealing swiftly and firmly with any incidents.”

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