Eton College is to throw open its classroom doors to state school pupils under a partnership designed to raise standards in the state sector.

Eton, which charges £26,500 a year, will provide master classes and specialist coaching in maths, science and languages to the brightest 10 per cent of pupils at six nearby state schools, with the aim of encouraging more of them to apply to university.

Less able pupils from the state schools, which include Langleywood school in Slough, one of the Government's new city academies, will also receive coaching from Eton pupils.

The participation of a school of Eton's status in such a project is a key coup for the Government. To date, more than 20 private schools, including Wellington College, Winchester and Gordonstoun, have agreed to get involved with state-funded academy schools. But Eton has previously said that it did not want to become involved in the academies programme.

Now its willingness to join local state schools under the government-funded Independent State Schools Partnership (ISSP) scheme, has been welcomed by Lord Adonis, the Schools Minister, who has made available £250,000 of government funding over four years. He said: “I'm hugely encouraged by Eton's participation in this partnership scheme. If they wanted further to extend their engagement by backing an academy, I would be delighted.”

Tony Little, the headmaster of Eton, said that the partnership would build upon the work the school already did, running summer schools for state school pupils.

He added that Eton hoped that the partnership would be a two-way process, bringing benefits to his school too. “One of our boys came back saying that he now wanted to be a teacher,” Mr Little said.

Yvonne Burne, the former headmistress of City of London School for Girls, who is organising the Eton-state school partnership, said that over the forthcoming half-term six teachers from Eton would be holding revision classes for 36 students from the partnership state schools.

Paul McAteer, the head of Langleywood School, said that a group of his fifth-form pupils had enjoyed being tutored recently by Eton sixth-formers.

“Our school has gone from being in special measures to being good with outstanding features. Places like Eton can benefit from our expertise in performance management,” he added. Other state schools in the partnership are Slough and Eton Church of England Business and Enterprise College, St Joseph's Catholic High School, Beechwood School, Windsor Boys' School and Heston Community School.

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