Race row after leading private schools turn down donor's £1m offer to help poor white boys

Sir Bryan said: "If Cambridge University can accept a much larger donation in support of black students, why cannot I do the same for underprivileged white British?

"In my opinion [Winchester] would gain enormously by being seen to address what is the severe national problem of the underperforming white cohort in schools."

Trevor Phillips, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, described poor white boys as "today's educational left-behinds".

Writing in the online magazine Standpoint, he added: "I've been asked to advise on whether it is acceptable to offer bursaries or scholarships to one minority group or another.

"Invariably, I have said yes; but donors remain nervous, and beneficiary institutions are routinely discouraged by their lawyers."

A spokesman for Winchester College said: “Acceptance of a bequest of this nature would neither be in the interests of the school as a charity nor the interests of those it aims to support through its work.

"Notwithstanding legal exceptions to the relevant legislation, the school does not see how discrimination on grounds of a boy’s colour could ever be compatible with its values.”

A spokesman for Dulwich College said: “The community at Dulwich is proudly diverse, both socio-economically and ethnically, reflecting our location.

"Bursaries are an engine of social mobility and they should be available to all who pass our entrance examinations, irrespective of their background.”

Sir Bryan is now talking to state schools in deprived areas who have been more positive about accepting his help, The Times said.

On Monday night head teachers from ethnically diverse state schools backed him in the row, including Leon Wilson, the executive principal of the Hurlingham and Lambeth Academies in London.

Mr Wilson, who began his teaching career in Jamaica and has been cited as an ethnic minority role model, said: "You have lots of philanthropists who give away money for different ethnic groups such as black Caribbean boys.

"I can't see why it should be a problem for white boys."

Source: telegraph.co.uk