Public school pupils to get £1,500 windfalls after fee-fixing inquiry

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Up to 40,000 who attended schools including Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Rugby can apply for the bursaries to help fund their university and college courses.

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Former pupils at public schools, such as Eton, are in line for £1,500 handouts

But the charity set up to administer the scheme expects to hand out only 500 each year for five years, leaving most missing out.

Pupils who attended the 50 schools involved in the crucial period will be entered into a lottery to determine who gets the handouts.

The scheme, ordered by the Office of Fair Trading after a two-year inquiry, was criticised by unions.

They said it made "no sense" to help children from wealthy families.

Independent school leaders revealed they had hoped the money would go to poorer children but were bound by a deal with the OFT.

In the inquiry, one of the OFT's largest, the schools admitted exchanging sensitive data about fee levels for 2001 to 2004 but insisted this did not push up charges.

They have to pay a penalty of £10,000 each and agreed to make a £3 million payment to a trust to benefit pupils from that period. This will average £60,000 per school.

The £10,000 penalty was cut by up to half for six schools, including Eton, which co-operated with the inquiry.

The probe dated from 1997 when the schools started a voluntary exchange of information. The practice became illegal in March 2001. The OFT said the schools breached competition law but dropped a charge of fee-fixing.