State schools plan to generate hundreds of thousands of pounds by teaching sixth-formers from China.

The heads of high-performing schools will lobby the government to change visa laws that ban them from recruiting overseas, unlike private schools and further education colleges.

Three-month visits by Chinese sixth-formers are already in the pipeline at one grammar, to familiarise them with British education and university applications. These are allowed under existing laws but changes to visa legislation would permit state schools to educate teenagers for one or two years of the sixth form, with China paying at least £4,000 per year per pupil.

Unlike at independent schools, Chinese families would not pay fees and pupils would not apply individually. The placements would be organised and funded by