MORE than 5,000 of the brightest North-East pupils are missing out on a scheme to help them reach the top, because teachers fail to put their names forward.

Only 4,145 youngsters have been enrolled in the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth, set up to help the most able achieve their potential, figures have revealed.

According to a target set by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), 9,896 North-East youngsters should be signed up to the programme.

The shortfall has been blamed on teachers failing to pick out gifted children. Nationally, 40 per cent of secondary schools have never recommended a pupil to the academy.

In North Yorkshire, a further 942 youngsters are also missing out on the talent programme, with 1,510 selected instead of 2,451.

Now the Government is launching a national talent search to ensure potential is not missed and the most promising pupils can be helped to reach the top universities.

They would be tracked from the age of 11 and, if they fulfil their academic promise in GCSE exams at 16, they would be approached by admissions officers from the elite Russell Group universities.

That would prevent the academy - which opened in 2002 - having to rely on teachers at individual secondary schools recommending candidates.

Supporters of the change say it would end the stranglehold enjoyed by students from fee-paying schools over places at Oxford, Cambridge and other elite universities.

However, it is likely to run into strong opposition from some in the teaching profession, who will view it as academic selection by the backdoor - and even an attempt at "social engineering".

The academy is intended to support the region's five per cent most promising pupils with one-to-one tuition, summer schools and online activities.

But figures released to MPs by the DfES reveal that only in Hartlepool (5.1 per cent) have that proportion been enrolled.

The next highest figure is in Darlington (3.5 per cent), with Durham (1.2 per cent), Middlesbrough (1.9 per cent) and Redcar and Cleveland (two per cent) spotting the fewest bright youngsters.

The commitment for a national talent search will form part of the Government's Education Bill, which will also pave the way for all schools to be become independent "trusts".

That proposal faces opposition from growing numbers of Labour backbenchers, who fear it will create a two-tier education system.

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