BURY could share a £50 million jackpot to raise standards in secondary schools.

Council bosses have agreed to join the Greater Manchester Challenge which aims to emulate the success of a similar scheme in London.

The challenge would focus on all aspects of the school system including teachers, pupils, leaders and school buildings and environment.

A recent Ofsted evaluation of the London Challenge reported that schools there had improved dramatically and that "the model may well merit consideration in other cities and areas".

The move was agreed by members of Bury's ruling executive, which they say will help local schools get more money and help.

London has received £40 million a year through this scheme which pays for improvements at all schools, with intensive and tailored support to the worst.

The aim is to cut the gap in attainment by pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, help raise standards in the lowest performing schools, and increase the number of schools with outstanding results. Key elements included grouping schools with similar intakes into "families" where solutions could be jointly found, especially those facing the biggest challenges, such as those in special measures or with very low numbers of A-C passes at GCSE.

Bury has no schools currently in that position, but bosses say such narrow criteria masks the help that schools do need, particularly around "value added" scores, standards at Key Stages 1 and 3, and for pupils most at risk of under-achieving.