TOWER Hamlets secondary schools receive the most amount of state funding per pupil in the country.

An average of �8,058 is handed out for each pupil at one of the borough’s 15 state secondaries, recently released government figures for 2009-10 show.

The national average is about �5,200.

Local authorities in London get more cash because of the extra expense of services, so the figures are likely to be higher in the city than elsewhere.

The higher number of poorer pupils who receive free school meals in the East End compared to the rest of the country and the numbers with special educational needs affects the amount handed out.

Last year, more than half the students in Tower Hamlets were eligible for free school meals.

The variation in grants at each Tower Hamlets school was not as much as in other parts of England though.

The secondary school handed the lowest amount per pupil was Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate Girls School in Commercial Road, Limehouse with �7,242 on average.

St Paul’s Way School received more funding than any other last year, with �11,187 for each student.

But this is likely to be because it won funding for a new school to be built at its site in Shelmerdine Close, Bow.

According to the BBC, Hackney has the second highest amount spent per secondary pupil at �7,962, and Lambeth is third with �7,207.

Tower Hamlets is also third in the country for the highest spending per primary school pupil, with an average of �5,967.

The amount of cash raised by schools independently was also published.

Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College in Ben Jonson Road and Oaklands School in Old Bethnal Green Road both raised nothing.

Langdon Park Community School in Byron Street, Poplar raised the highest amount in the borough, with �876 per pupil, on top of its government grant of �8.162.

Critics have warned that the figures could be misleading though, because they do not include academies.

They can also show funding discrepancies for schools which have been awarded big building projects.

The government released the figures last week so parents could see spending trends at their child’s school and also to encourage head teachers to use funds more efficiently.