MPs and campaigners are calling for the Charity Commission to investigate the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, which both charge private schools more for tickets than state schools, LBC has reported.

The National Theatre offers £10 tickets during term-time for group bookings of more than 10 state school pupils, and £12 tickets for a group of private school pupils of the same size. The Royal Shakespeare Company charges private school pupils 60% more than children at state schools.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the theatres’ policies are “disgusting discrimination” and called for them to be reversed.

Speaking to The Telegraph, he accused the Labour government of launching “an abhorrent class war against private schools.”

Stuart Andrew, shadow culture secretary, commented: “I have a huge amount of respect for the National Theatre, so this is particularly disappointing to see. Despite receiving tens of millions in public funding, this feels like clear price discrimination – penalising private school pupils based on crude assumptions about wealth.

“Publicly funded institutions have a duty to widen access, not reinforce stereotypes or engage in socio-economic social engineering.”

A spokesman for Education Not Taxation, which represents 25,000 private school parents, said: “It is disappointing to see the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company discriminate against children who attend independent schools. They should encourage all children to embrace the arts, rather than forcing children to pay the price for the biases of these charities. We also urge the Charity Commission to investigate and address this issue.”

A spokesman for the National Theatre said: “State school tickets are £2 less than for independent schools (£10 and £12), and both are considerably lower than the market rate.

“This is part of our commitment to widening access for young people to world class theatre. This enables us to welcome as many students as possible at a time when schools across the country face challenging financial pressures which limit extracurricular activity.”

A spokesman for the Royal Shakespeare Company commented: “Prices for private schools are at a slightly higher rate due to the differences in budgets that are available between state-maintained schools and schools in the independent sector, a policy which we have maintained for several years.

“However, we also recognise that there are many different kinds of independent schools and for smaller schools, as well as for schools that focus on children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. We are looking at how we can make appropriate adjustments, as part of our work to regularly review our pricing policies.”