Green light given to 18 new free schools

David Cameron vowed he will not waiver in his commitment to open 500 new free schools as he gave the green light to a further 18 school proposals this week.

The Prime Minister said the 18 new free schools will create 9,000 new places. Two rounds will be announced per year between now and the end of the Parliament in 2020 in a bid to deliver the Government’s election pledge of 500 new free schools.

He said the new schools, on top of the 254 already opened, and the 98 in the pipeline, would meet the growing demand for more good local schools with high standards and strong discipline.

Building on the success of the programme, the government is also now allowing free school applicants to apply for nurseries as part of their bid.

The quantity of schools is lower than the 49 announced in March.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said the free schools programme had “sent out the message loud and clear” that parents should “never have to settle for anything less than the best for their child”.

Analysis of Ofsted inspections for the open free schools shows that of the 136 which have been inspected so far, 34 are outstanding, 72 are good, 24 are said to require improvement and six are inadequate.

The 18 new schools announced this week include a number that will be set up by teachers themselves, “showing the programme is putting power back in the hands of those who know children best.”

These include the Solihull Alternative Provision Academy, set up by three head teachers of high-performing schools in Solihull, West Midlands.

The announcement has been criticised though by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), which has been among the fiercest critics of the free schools programme.

General Secretary Christine Blower said: “The government seems determined to start the new school term in the manner in which it concluded the last – peddling a series of untruths and misrepresentations about the ideological academy and free school programme.

“The Prime Minister says he will ‘not waiver’. This is despite the growing body of evidence that the government is pursuing the wrong policies whilst ignoring the very real challenges facing schools.”