SCOTLAND'S elite private schools are retaining their charitable status despite offering almost no means-tested bursaries for primary level pupils.

Some of the institutions are enjoying huge tax breaks even though their targeted support for poorer children only starts at secondary school.

Campaigners said the schools were doing "as little as they can get away with".

In meeting the statutory charity test, organisations have to show public benefit and ensure access is not "unduly restrictive".

With private schools charging up to £30,000 a year, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) investigated whether the fees in the sector amount to a barrier.

Over forty schools have been given pass marks, but some maintained their charitable status only by expanding their bursary system for families who could not afford the fees.

However, the mean-tested assistance offered by many schools only begins at the level of primary seven or above.

George Heriot's, established in Edinburgh in 1628, offers bursaries for children "primarily" in senior school.

A spokesperson added: "We are occasionally able to offer bursarial assistance to children joining primary seven but only in exceptional circumstances."

Merchiston Castle, an independent school for boys in the Capital, is a charity but only offers bursaries to entrants at senior school level.

Edinburgh Academy, whose alumni includes Robert Louis Stevenson and 19th century scientist James Clark Maxwell, also prioritises bursaries at a secondary school level.

A spokesperson said 15% of support was given to pupils between primary 1 to 7 and 85% of assistance targeted at senior school.

The website of Loretto, a boarding school in Musselburgh that educated former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, states that bursaries are "not normally given" for under 10s.

Similarly, the Erskine Stewart's Melville schools, which are also based in Edinburgh, offer means-tested support to eligible families with children in primary 7 and upwards.

George Watson's College, another Edinburgh institution, only makes "financial assistance bursaries" available from primary 7 onwards.

A similar picture emerges in other parts of the country, with Glasgow Academy restricting bursaries to senior school and primary 7.

Hutchesons' Grammar School, based in the southside of Glasgow, can provide financial assistance of up to 100% of the fee to pupils who enter "Secondary 1".

At Dollar Academy, in Clackmannanshire, help towards the school fee is available to children entering "form 1", which is the equivalent of first year at secondary.

Labour peer George Foulkes, who has campaigned for private schools to do more to justify their charitable status, said: "I think the schools do as little as they can get away with, rather than genuinely try to get disadvantaged pupils into the school. OSCR has been too lenient and should take a stronger line, as charitable status gives the schools a very substantial subsidy from the public purse. The relevant legislation also needs to be revisited by the Scottish Government."

John Edwards, director of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools, said: "Focusing fee assistance on secondary years pupils is simple common sense, nothing more. It maximises the means-tested assistance schools can provide at secondary level, where it can make the most difference to individual pupils.

"Even though mean-tested assistance has climbed to new heights of almost £30 million each year to widen access there is not, sadly, an unlimited amount of money available to individual schools for bursaries."

A spokesman for OSCR said: "We were aware that in some cases, bursaries are more common or only available for senior school pupils. You will be aware that fee structure and bursary distribution also vary with each school. Fee levels for junior school pupils also tend to be significantly lower. As we've previously stated, we base our decisions on the individual circumstances that apply in each case, and the level of public benefit provided by each school overall."