Bright teenagers from poor homes are to get free private tuition from independent school teachers under plans announced yesterday.

They will be given masterclasses in an attempt to increase the number of working-class students going to university, the Government announced.

Schools Minister Lord Adonis promised £4 million to develop partnerships between state comprehensives in deprived areas and good nearby independent schools.

Private school teachers will be encouraged to give tuition to state pupils identified as "gifted and talented" - particularly in maths, science or languages - to help them get to university.

The funding is likely to be used by schools such as Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham which is already attempting to forge greater links with state schools.

The school's head of lower years Laura Bartlett said: "We are very keen to establish a link with the local schools in terms of sharing good practice and looking to have staff exchanges where our staff would go in for a day and they would come to us."

The move may, however, upset middle class parents who spend considerable sums to pay for their children to be privately educated.

Ms Bartlett added: "One of the issues for us in the independent sector is parents pay to be educated by our teachers. If we have an exchange then my girls would in effect be taught by someone in the maintained sector."

Nansi Ellis, acting head of education policy at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, claimed it was "difficult to conceive of a more wrong-headed approach" to boost attainment in state schools.

"Separate and fragmented projects to raise young people's expectations are deeply flawed - they only help small numbers of children, are not thought through, unsustainable, and are the worst examples of short-termism," she said.

"This scheme is a waste of public money and made up of projects full of empty promises."

She added: "What would be useful is for the Government to give more thought to how state schools could replicate some of the best aspects of the independent sector, such as smaller class sizes and better resources."

The new Government proposal comes in the wake of controversy over the low numbers of working-class students getting into leading universities.

Speaking at the Girls' School Association Conference in Leeds yesterday, Lord Adonis said: "We need to be innovative and bold to meet our aim of raising standards in deprived communities.

"There are still neighbourhoods where going to university is exceptional and individual talent is wasted.

"I want to tap into the enormous enthusiasm and creativity in both state and independent sectors to help inspire bright youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds to meet their potential and get to university."

Oxford and Cambridge have come under pressure recently for failing to attract sufficient numbers of applicants from state schools or poor communities.

The Government has encouraged the creation of more than 330 partnership projects between state and private schools since 1997, backed by £10 million to help bridge the gap.

It said yesterday's additional £4 million aims to encourage state and private schools to "work together on specific projects to improve attainment and raise aspirations".

The money will fund between 15 and 20 "clusters of schools spanning the state and independent sectors".

Last month, Lord Adonis urged leading private school heads to consider sponsoring the Government's flagship "independent" academies.

Recent reforms have put greater pressure on independent schools to show their "public benefit" in order to continue enjoying generous tax exemptions.