There was �1.4m funding for links between state and private schools

A report from Ofsted says pupils from both sectors are benefiting from projects run between schools.

The government is providing �1.4m funding to "build bridges" between state and independent schools - and inspectors say it is proving a success.

The research studied 29 of the 46 partnerships launched last year.

"Barriers and negative pre-conceptions between the sectors and individual schools are being broken down, and the partnerships provide opportunities for pupils from widely different backgrounds to enjoy meeting each other," said Ofsted chief, David Bell.

'Creative'

Among the assumptions challenged by the partnerships was "the idea that one sector is uniformly better resourced than the other", said Mr Bell.

Inspectors concluded that "partnerships foster imaginative, creative and exciting classroom and extra-curricular provision".

And teachers were able to benefit from "high-quality professional development and the sharing of expertise and, in the best examples, good practice is disseminated more widely".

Partnerships can be between two schools or else through groups of schools - and the report says that some links are based around an individual subject while others are wider ranging and can involve the local education authorities.