With an above-average number of pupils on free meals and speaking English as a second language, Trinity high, on the edge of Birmingham, shares many characteristics of an inner-city school.
But because the school is in Redditch, Worcestershire, a relatively wealthy shire county, it is not funded as such.
“I would be very interested in any sort of change that better reflected the economic circumstances my pupils find themselves in,” said Marion Barton, Trinity’s headteacher.
“It is very frustrating not to have the same sort of funding as similar schools in Birmingham.”
But while a positive discrimination voucher, pupil or advantage premium, would help to level the playing field, she is sceptical about whether it could actually attract the middle-classes.
“I believe a lot of social segregation is down to parental choice so I doubt this would end it.”
