UK state schools neglecting duty towards gifted students - study

London: As many as three-quarters of state schools are failing to push their brightest pupils because teachers are reluctant to promote "elitism", an Ofsted study says today.

Many teachers are not convinced of the importance of providing more challenging tasks for their gifted and talented pupils.

Bright youngsters told inspectors they were forced to ask for harder work. Others were resentful at being dragooned into "mentoring" weaker pupils.

In nearly three-quarters of 26 schools studied, pupils designated as being academically gifted or talented in sport or the arts were "not a priority", Ofsted found.

Teachers feared that a focus on the brightest pupils would "undermine the school's efforts to improve the attainment and progress of all other groups of pupils".

Head teachers told inspectors that ministers had failed to give a strong enough signal that catering for gifted pupils should be central to schools' work.

Schools are meant to identify the top 5 to 10 per cent of pupils as "gifted and talented" and ensure they are given appropriate tasks to help them achieve their potential.