Alan Davis, the head, has a pound;4.5 million budget and is used to carrying forward reserves of between pound;60,000 and pound;90,000. But he expects his school to finish 20034 around pound;30,000 in the red.

He thinks Whitcliffe is one of many schools losing out because their geographical and socio-economic circumstances disqualify them from receiving government grants and funding.

His local authority, Kirklees, does not benefit from Excellence in Cities money, he does not receive a leadership incentive grant and his school has not won specialist status and the extra cash that goes with it.

“If you are relying fully on mainstream funding through the LEA you are going to have problems,” he said. “The Government should be taking notice of schools in situations like mine.”