Schools in Cornwall are among the worst funded in the country, according to campaigners who say the county should be put on a fairer footing.

Concerns about the impact on children’s opportunities have been raised by Cornwall Council leader, Adam Paynter, as part of the council’s ‘#StandUpForCornwall’ campaign.

The campaign, which people can support by signing an online pledge at cornwall.gov.uk, asks for changes in the way the government allocates funding to local authorities.

‘It’s clearly unfair that Cornwall receives £1,645 less per pupil than the ten best funded boroughs in inner London,’ said Cllr Paynter.

‘Central Government is currently reviewing local authority funding for our public services and our Fair Funding campaign has been timed to highlight the difference between the richest and poorest funded schools in the country.

‘Cornwall’s schools are not receiving the funds needed from government to give pupils the best possible start in life. In fact, we are in the bottom nine areas in the country for school funding.’

David Walrond, principal of Truro and Penwith College, said: ‘The post-16 funding picture in Cornwall is particularly bleak. We know that schools are facing great challenges in terms of funding, but austerity-led hits on the post-16 budget have been significantly worse.

‘That does not just damage the prospects or life chances of Cornwall’s youth, it damages the socio-economic prospects of the county as a whole. This chronic under-investment in skills puts us completely at odds with all our successful economic competitors.’

Head teacher Bill Marshall said” ‘Cornwall Association of Secondary Head Teachers (CASH) fully supports the council’s Fair Funding campaign to secure better funding for the young people of Cornwall, and we think the Government needs to go back to the blackboard and increase the funds they provide so Cornwall can keep pace with ever increasing pupil numbers.

‘For instance, a primary school with a head count of 400 pupils in Cornwall receives on average £376,000 less than schools in Greenwich, London.  A secondary school with 1,400 pupils in Cornwall receives £2million less than the same size school in Greenwich.

‘Our schools need to be given the same ‘tools’ to deliver as other better-funded parts of the country.  Our children all sit the same exams and our schools are judged by the same Ofsted criteria.’