SCHOOLS in middle class areas should be given more funding to help close the attainment gap between rich and poor, according to a new report.

Think tank Reform Scotland said current financial support was focused on schools in deprived areas which had the greatest numbers of pupils living in poverty.

However, research has shown most schools have some pupils from poorer backgrounds - and that they are just as likely to underperform because of the difficulties faced at home.

A so-called “challenge paper” from Reform Scotland’s Commission for School Reform, which published a major report on education in 2013, called for the Scottish Government’s annual £25 million attainment fund to be widened.

It said: “The Scottish Government has set up a fund….. to finance initiatives in the seven local authority areas with the greatest concentrations of deprivation.

“There is, as yet, no programme directed at those children living in poverty, but attending schools that do not serve particularly deprived areas.

“The recent….. research suggests these may be the majority of all children experiencing deprivation. This is, therefore, a very substantial gap in current policy.”

The paper also called for the Scottish Government to provide a timescale to close the attainment gap – a key pledge of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Keir Bloomer, an educationalist from the commission, said: "The Scottish Government are right to focus on the twin objectives of raising overall attainment and simultaneously closing the gap.

"However, the time has come to get specific about some of the hurdles that need to be overcome to achieve those valid ambitions.”

The report was welcomed by political parties across the spectrum with Scottish Labour highlighting its Fair Start Fund policy, which would be financed by a tax on families earning more that £150,000.

Iain Gray, Labour’s education spokesman, said: “It will mean £1,000 per head for the poorest pupils in Scotland and we'll give the cash to headteachers who know better how to spend the money than SNP ministers in Edinburgh."

Liz Smith, young people spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, also backed the commission’s paper.

She said: "This is a stark message from some of Scotland’s most experienced and well respected educationalists.

"They have been very blunt about the scale of the challenge facing the SNP which, in its eight years of government, has failed to address the serious issues affecting Scottish schools.

Liam McArthur, education spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said his party backed the introduction of a pupil premium to target support at individual pupils in every part of Scotland.

He said: "Too many children are still leaving school unable to read and write and, disproportionately, these children are from more deprived backgrounds.

“The inadequate action from this SNP Government is failing those children most in need.”

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union, called for more investment in teacher training.

He said: “To improve learning outcomes in the classroom there needs to be increased investment in the professional learning of teachers.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said its focus on closing the attainment gap was generating discussion across Scotland.

She added: “We launched the Scottish Attainment Challenge, backed by the £100m attainment fund, to target intensive support for young people in some of Scotland’s most-deprived communities.

“Our Access to Education fund has also seen £3m invested over the past two years to support learning and raise attainment in schools across Scotland.

“We are also developing a National Improvement Framework so that we have the best evidence to see where we are succeeding and where we need to do more.”

Reform Scotland’s commission includes former Labour education minister Peter Peacock, Frank Lennon, the headteacher of Dunblane High School and Ross Martin, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.