For most of her life Natasha Petrovic has been a carer for her sick parents but, despite her responsibilities, she has found the time to pursue her love of music. When she was four they encouraged her to learn the violin at her Surrey primary and she was soon hooked.

At the age of eight she passed the auditions to the Yehudi Menuhin music school near Cobham, within commuting distance of home. Because her parents were unemployed, Petrovic received a full bursary to cover the fees. Now in the sixth form, she plans to go to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and work in outreach to encourage music in state schools and institutions such as prisons.

Petrovic, 19, benefited from the government’s music and dance scheme (MDS), a £172m annual fund established to help “ensure that talented children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and families with limited financial means” have the opportunity to attend one of eight independent music or dance schools.

Now, however, the scheme is under attack, accused of contributing to arts elitism, just as state schools face funding cuts and a concentration on core subjects. Figures obtained by the Guardian show that, despite the aim to help disadvantaged young people, families earning up to £190,000 a year are receiving awards. At Yehudi Menuhin for example, two students whose parents earn between £170,000 and £190,000 are getting MDS help with the £43,000-a-year boarding fees.

At Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester the figures reveal that four students with family incomes of between £120,000 and £130,000 and nine between £100,000 and £120,000 benefited last year. Those earning £100,000 receive £18,000 towards the £32,000 boarding fees and those on £150,000 get £8,052.

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Although the Department for Education (DfE) funds the scheme, the schools select students and carry out means testing for the awards on a sliding scale ranging from full fees to just under £1,000 a year.

Critics point to the substantial number of MDS award holders who come from independent prep schools. The father of a state school student who attended one of the schools says a large proportion of the students receiving awards were from the independent sector.

The father, who asked for anonymity as his son is still in education, adds: “When we first looked into it the MDS looked like an amazing opportunity for hard-up kids who need a break and we hadn’t expected it to be quite so comfortably middle class. All that raw talent from the wrong side of the tracks just doesn’t know the scheme exists. Surely they’re the ones it’s meant to be for? It’s a huge wasted opportunity.”

The steep rise in independent school fees – average boarding fees were £11,500 in 1998 and £33,684 this year – could be leading more parents to try to cut costs through music or dance awards, he added.

The money should be supporting music in state schools, says Robert Verkaik, the author of Posh Boys, How the English Public Schools Ruin Britain. “Taxpayers have the right to know why so much is being given to well-off families to pay the fees for their children to attend high-profile private schools like these. Is it any wonder that the world of dance and music is over-represented by performers who come from wealthy backgrounds?” he says.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

According to the DfE, more than half the pupils supported by MDS awards last year were from families with incomes of under £40,000. But at Wells Cathedral school in Somerset 16 pupils with awards had parents earning between £60,000 and £100,000. One family had an annual income of over £120,000.

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Alastair Tighe, its headmaster, says: “We are determined to ensure that funds are allocated as widely as possible so that talent and potential win through in a wide variety of musical genres. The need has never been more urgent given the increasingly tragic sidelining of the arts within the UK’s education system.”

Chetham’s says over 75% of its 263 students benefiting from the scheme are from families earning less than £60,000 a year. It is active in promoting the opportunities to be as inclusive as possible, says Alun Jones, its principal.

“However, we are just one school. We cannot on our own tackle the challenges of the whole sector. The EBacc and dramatic cuts in school budgets have reduced the status and funding of music in mainstream education. In too many schools, the few remaining music staff lack the time or resources to access our outreach projects, take up concert tickets, meet us at trade shows or respond to our communications. Many more no longer have a dedicated music teacher to encourage children to join us,” he adds.

Kate Clanchy, the headteacher of Yehudi Menuhin, says: “We have 85 students of which 61 are funded places. A family with a gross income of £150,000 would take home around £100,000 after tax. If they wanted to send two children here that would be almost their entire net income. People think independent school equals rich clientele but in this school we have true diversity.

“We have one son of a QC, we have a few music teachers, we have postman, social worker, cleaner, ticket collector, artist, junior school teacher and parents who are unemployed,” she adds.

Petrovic says she is not the only person at her school lucky to be there because the full fees are covered. In fact, those on higher incomes can be worse off, she adds: “I have friends whose parents are having to work so very hard to be able to keep them here as they don’t get a full award. It’s a lot to pay out of most people’s earnings.”