Innovative steps in Bradford to get secondary schools working together in groups have won Government praise.

The district's 28 high schools have traditionally had to compete for students and cash and there has been little incentive to share good practice.

But a new climate of collaboration is taking over, says Education Bradford.

Five new area federations have been set up, each including both high-performing schools and those which are struggling.

The plan is termed a national Pathfinder project and has earned extra funding of £500,000 from the Government.

"A radical rethink was needed," said Tony Thornley, director of strategy at Education Bradford. "Our action plan has been well-received and it has been described as interesting and innovative. The DfES has been recommending us to other areas, as a source of good practice. We are getting support nationally for what we are doing."

It is too soon for the changes to have resulted in higher results by students, Mr Thornley admitted. "I can't point to improvements as a result of this yet, but there are much, much better working relationships and the feeling that we are in it together," he said.

The new groups contain a mixture of high performing schools and struggling schools, which face big problems because they serve deprived communities.

Such schools often have trouble recruiting teachers.

Tony Thorne, who is head of the North Bradford federation, said vacancies in struggling schools could even be plugged by teachers from its better-off neighbours.

"The goodwill is there to do that," he said.

The new style of working together is already reaping dividends as all heads have agreed a deal which means they all take two excluded pupils per year from other schools.

The federations are one plank of a shake-up of provision for 14 to 19-year-old students in Bradford, to improve the current post-16 staying on rate from 50pc to 80pc. Education bosses are also employing expert Terry Melia, former chief inspector of further education, to do a 'fundamental review' of what courses are offered which could lead to the closure of small, unviable sixth forms.

"We still have painful bits and pieces to go through, in looking at who will provide what and where," Mr Thornley said.

David Mallen, chairman of the education policy partnership, said: "These are very important developments and Bradford is very much at the front of what is going on."