Ever wondered what could be achieved if Swindon schools were given fair funding from the Government? JAMES WATSON takes a look at deprived Tower Hamlets, where exam results are now almost on a par with those in our so-called boom town.

IT is a tale of two very different towns. Boom town Swindon, where unemployment is low and prospects high, and London's Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived boroughs in the country where crime is rife and the standard of living is low.

But these two very different areas have one thing in common: the number of pupils getting good GCSE results is almost identical.

In the latest available results, 44.5 per cent of Swindon's pupils achieved five GCSEs at grades A to C, six per cent less than the national average of just over 50 per cent.

In Tower Hamlets, despite the fact that many pupils come from families with severe problems, the percentage of pupils gaining the benchmark figure of five good passes was 43 per cent.

That's an eight per cent rise compared to Tower Hamlets' results last year; in Swindon, results improved by just 0.4 per cent.

Only one thing can explain why pupils in such a poverty-stricken area are set to overtake such a successful town as Swindon.

Money. Because every pupil in Tower Hamlets has £1,829 more spent on them every year than pupils in our town.

That means that a primary class of 30 pupils in Swindon gets £55,000 LESS every year than its counterpart in Tower Hamlets.

That would pay for an extra teacher and teaching assistant for every single class in Swindon, bringing class sizes down.

And this in a town where some primary schools have as many as 34 pupils in their classes, way over Labour's target of 30.

Swindon is already the second worst funded authority of its kind in the country, and the Evening Advertiser revealed last month that new criteria being drawn up by the Government would cut the town's funding even further next year by as much as £2 million.

Martin Daniels, Swindon's assistant director of education in charge of resources and planning, says that money would be enough to make a massive difference to Swindon's pupils.

Mr Daniels is part of Tribal Education's team of senior managers brought in after Swindon's Local Education Authority was slated by government inspectors Ofsted.

He said: "An extra £55,000 per class would double the number of staff in Swindon's classrooms.

"There are things we are identifying that we would like to do but finding the money is the difference between us and Tower Hamlets.

"For example, we would like to create an intranet so all schools can communicate with each other and students can work online from home. This has been a great success in other places I have worked in.

"We aren't talking big bucks. A couple of hundred thousand would be enough for a really good system, but it will be hard to find the money."

Mr Daniels explained that Swindon would find itself on the wrong side of Prime Minister Tony Blair's 'digital divide' between homes that have access to the internet and those that don't.

That £55,000 extra for every class in Tower Hamlets would be enough to fit a fully equipped and networked computer suite with a PC for every child. It would even be enough to buy a laptop for every child at school in Swindon.

But the internet isn't the only way Swindon's children are missing out.

The extra funding could also be used for extensive pre-school provision, and more activities before and after school, something that has proved to have a positive impact when put in place in other areas.

"We could have extensive early years provision, and extensive wrap-around care from 8am to 6pm," said Mr Daniels.

"That would make a hell of a difference.

"It costs about £1,000 to set up a classroom for furniture and equipment if you double that it would mean many more books and more equipment.

"Away from the equipment, more money would mean the children could access a wider range of educational opportunities.

"It could go towards improving our school's buildings. We have some schools with substantial work that needs doing.

"More money would help everything, from the classroom to the school to the whole education system.

"We have a lot of ideas here, but we don't have the means to carry them out."

Even Education Secretary Estelle Morris has sung Tower Hamlets' praises, speaking up for the authority in Parliament on June 21 last year.

She said: "The greatest thing about Tower Hamlets is that the literacy and numeracy of its 11-year-olds has improved more than in any other borough in the country.

"If it can be done in Tower Hamlets, it can be done anywhere.

"It is about embedding high aspiration. GCSE results have improved. That is great."

Great it is, but if only Swindon had the money maybe our teachers and our schools would be able to improve too.

To cap it all, the council tax for an average house in Tower Hamlets is almost £100 less than in Swindon, and council leader Kevin Small last week conceded that our council tax could rise by as much as 15 per cent to compensate for cuts to our education budget.

Of course there are big differences between Swindon and Tower Hamlets, but the plain fact is that money, and lots of it, has turned around one failing education authority.

Without a serious injection of cash in Swindon, will our schools ever recover?