The Royal Academy of Music has been accused of 'jumping on the lazy bandwagon of discrimination' by barring pupils from applying for its new foundation year if they went to private school.

The world-famous institution has launched a fully funded course for 'talented young musicians' but says only state school pupils need apply.

The academy claims the means-tested scheme will 'widen access to world-class music education'.

But heads at independent schools say the political climate, which has seen more than 100 independent schools close since the Government introduced VAT on private school fees, has led to dangerous stereotyping of all privately educated pupils as 'super wealthy'.

Philip Britton, chairman of The Heads' Conference, representing leading UK private schools, said it was 'time to cut across this idea independent school pupils can be discriminated against as a group'.

Mr Britton, headmaster at the private Bolton School, said using school background to exclude young people 'is lazy and wrong', adding: 'There are plenty of less well-off people in independent schools and plenty of privileged people in state schools.'

And he warned: 'All sorts of people feel it is fine to join the lazy bandwagon of discrimination.'

Arts philanthropist Dame Vivien Duffield will initially fund the programme at the academy, whose alumni include percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, soprano Felicity Lott, conductor Sir Simon Rattle and pop stars Elton John and Annie Lennox, to prepare 18 to 20-year-olds 'for undergraduate conservatoire or university study'.

Dame Vivien said it would 'widen the pipeline of exceptional young musicians and ensure that ability, not circumstance, determines how far a young person can go'.

But Richard Jones, head of Bryanston School in Dorset, said it was 'naive and ignorant' and 'playing into the prejudice against private schools' to use the crude measure of state versus independent, adding: 'The reality is each independent school will have a significant number of children on bursaries'.

Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that some of the UK's largest hospital trusts barred privately educated pupils from work experience schemes.

A Royal Academy of Music spokesman said: 'Students at independent schools are more likely to have had access to music training through their school.'