Schools should play a larger role in the renewal of neglected urban areas, a new report has concluded.

Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that while both primary and secondary schools offer services to their local community, head teachers often find it difficult to contribute to renewal schemes.

Although some heads saw their school as a community resource, others saw their role as much more focused on students, providing them with longer-term opportunities.

Schools with smaller catchment areas found it easier to contribute to local renewal as they understood the challenges faced by the community, while those with larger catchment areas would take students from further away than the nearest estate where problems were known to occur.

"Schools' attitudes towards regeneration and supporting activities were influenced by many different factors and sometimes lacked coherence," said report author Professor Alan Dyson.

"Headteachers were powerful in determining their school's response, but none of them could escape the imperative to raise the level of achievement and comply with the government's national policy on standards.

"This made the development of a wider community role problematic, especially since available funding tended to be short-term and unpredictable."

Dyson added that attempts to extend the role of schools in area regeneration initiatives run the risk of increasing the tensions between their "core business" of raising attainment and the additional tasks they are being asked to perform.

"Rather than considering how schools can contribute to the regeneration of disadvantaged areas alongside their core business, it might be more appropriate to ask: 'what is it about schools' core business that enhances the opportunities of all children in all communities that they serve?' and to act upon that," he said.