The Rev Tim Hastie-Smith, who stands to earn in excess of £110,000 if Montagu School becomes an academy next year, has revealed how he intends to run it.

He said he would bring in the celebrities such as actress Dame Judi Dench and football commentator Gary Lineker to talk to pupils and enlist the support of the Duke of Buccleuch.

In an interview to a national newspaper, he described the current Montagu School in Weekley Glebe Road as "the local school people don't want to go to".

The Rev Hastie-Smith, who has been headteacher for 11 years at Dean Close in Cheltenham – one of the country's top 200 private schools with boarding fees of £24,000 a year – will reportedly earn in excess of £110,000 as Montagu's new head.

He told the Sunday Times that he intends to employ his wife Joanne in a salaried pastoral role at the "underachieving, low-aspiration school".

This year Montagu School saw 45 per cent of pupils achieve five A* to C results but the Rev Hastie-Smith has pledged to improve GCSE results by 10 to 15 per cent within a year.

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Some of the comments have angered parents. Michael Berry of Glastonbury Close, Kettering, whose 13-year-old son Aaron attends the school, said: "I really disagree with the comment this is a school no one wants to go to. This is the second school my son has been to and he seems a lot happier here.

"I can't see improving the school's GCSE results can be the job of one person, it is down to all the teachers."

Mario Manilia, of Granville Street, Kettering, has two daughters at the school.

He said: "It is already a good school and I think the money could be better spent than on just one person."

Hena Kotecha, 30 of Queen Street, Kettering said: "My son has just started at the school and he is getting on well."