ETON College, probably the most famous and exclusive public school in the UK, is targeting the North-East in a bid to attract more applicants from working class families.

Although fees cost an eye-watering £34,000 a year, not many people realise that the Berkshire college which has educated a string of prime ministers and archbishops offers scholarships to 70 boys whose parents will pay no fees.

And as part of the college’s policy of offering scholarships to youngsters living in relatively deprived parts of the UK college officials are targeting the North-East, Wales, the far South-West and parts of the East Midlands.

Although the deadline for applications for this year’s New Foundation Scholarships has just passed, Francesca Moultrie, Eton College’s access advisor, says the efforts to recruit in areas like the North-East will continue.

“We have a particular scheme, called New Foundation Scholarships, which is targeted at 13 year old boys who are currently studying in the state sector. Successful applicants would join us in year 9,” said Ms Moultrie.

“The scheme has been running for six years but this year we decided to do more in the way of outreach and we decided to target a number of areas including the North-East.”

As part of the campaign the college has placed a number of advertisements in The Northern Echo group of titles.

The adverts stress that the intellectual standard expected is “very high” but with an emphasis on the boy’s potential.

It also makes it clear that the four scholarships are aimed at boys who would not be able to attend Eton without “very substantial financial assistance.”

Mrs Moultrie said the decision to target places like the North-East was to ensure that very bright boys from deprived backgrounds were given a chance to shine at Eton.

“One of our concerns is that C1 category white British boys are not responding sufficiently well to such scholarships. There will certainly be people among that group who would be aspirational, or potentially aspirational but think we could never go anywhere like that.”

Despite the elitist image of Eton - where pupils wear traditional dress including tailcoats – Mrs Moultrie insisted that children from ‘ordinary’ backgrounds soon fit in.

“We regularly have parents coming down from the North-East for our open afternoons and when people come they are impressed at how the school isn’t,” she added.

“Once the family comes, once they see the school, they will realise it is not just ‘a school for toffs’, it is not what the public perception would be,” said Mrs Moultrie.

The college, which educates 1,300 boys aged from 13 to 18, works very closely with the families to ensure that the transition from state school to Eton is achieved as smoothly as possible..

“The scholarships are means-tests but they can be up to 100 per cent and we will also help them with the costs of uniform and a laptop. The aim is that you would not know they were any different to the other boys.”

For more information visit etoncollege.com