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The free school revolution begins
Released 21/06/2011
The DfE gets ready to open as many as 20 schools this September, all of which took less than 15 months to set up from start to finish
Free school applications are on the rise
Up to 20 free schools are expected to open this September, the Department for Education has announced, each taking around 15 months to set up from initial application.
Previously, parent-promoted schools could take up to nine years to set up from conception, and it took three years for the first 12 academies to open.
The DfE received 281 applications to set up free schools from September 2012 in the round that just closed on 15 June.
There were 37 applications to set up a university technical college.
Of the 281 free school applications received, the current analysis shows that:
- 227 are for mainstream schools
- 34 are for alternative provision schools (such as pupil referral units)
- 20 are for schools for children with special educational needs.
Of the 227 mainstream applications:
- 77 are for primary schools
- 81 are for secondary schools
- 65 are for all-through schools
- four are for 16-19 schools.
Of these mainstream applications:
- 12 applications came from existing academy providers
- 126 applications came from local groups.
The percentage of applications from independent schools wishing to move into the state sector has decreased in this application round. Forty of the 227 mainstream school applications are from existing independent schools, compared to 98 last year.
The percentage of schools characterising themselves as faith schools has also fallen at 65 compared to 115 last year.
Recent research shows that of the 32 groups that the DfE is progressing, two free schools are located in the most deprived 10% of lower super output areas (LSOAs) in the country and just one is in the least deprived 10% of LSOAs in the country.
A LSOA is made up of around 1,500 residents, surrounding the 32 free schools. The DfE is judging this as a reasonable reflection of their catchment size.
In a speech yesterday, Education Secretary Michael Gove said the current school system leaves children "poorly prepared for the world we face".
"We have just suffered the worst financial crisis since 1929. Our economy is weighed down by a huge debt burden. Europe has major problems with debt and the euro," he commented.
"Meanwhile there is a rapid and historic shift of political and economic power to Asia and a series of scientific and technological changes that are transforming our culture, economy and global politics. If we do not have a school system that is adapting to and preparing for these challenges then we will betray a generation."
Gove said the highest-performing education systems are those where government knows when to step back. "We want a school system in which teachers have more power and in which they are more accountable to parents - not politicians," he added.
He also challenged anyone who doubted him. "Our critics said it was impossible to open a school in little more than a year," Gove said. "Several will open this September. They told us that schools wouldn't want to become academies. They are converting at a rate of two every school day."
‘Stop toffs ripping of the system'
One critic of the free school movement is Robert Ashton, a Big Society trouble-shooter and consultant to Parliament.
"Free schools are brilliant examples of Big Society," he said. "However the early adopters are, as usual, the articulate middle class mums who want private school education [at] state school prices."
Ashton says the "real opportunity" is for the disadvantaged who, with encouragement and support, can create schools their kids will want to attend and want to learn in.
"That's where the ‘real need' is and that is where we can achieve the greatest return possible from the government investment," he commented.
"Let's stop toffs ripping of the system and spend the money where it's needed."