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23 April 2026

Tag: free schools

鈥楶hoenix鈥� free schools should replace 鈥榮tubborn鈥� underperformers, says report

The government should replace “stubbornly” underperforming schools with new “phoenix” free schools, rank multi-academy trusts on improvement and buy out PFI contracts to level up education, according to a new report. Research by the conservative think-tank Onward and the charity New Schools Network, which supports free schools, found that 200,000 children lived in areas with […]

Safeguarding failures exposed at free school where staff had ‘too many responsibilities’

Vulnerable children were put at serious risk because stretched staff had “too many responsibilities” to carry out safeguarding duties, Ofsted found, at a school where the head had resigned over “indefensible” funding cuts. Inspectors discovered “serious failings in safeguarding arrangements” at Northampton International Academy (NIA), part of the East Midlands Academy Trust (EMAT). Ofsted visited […]

DfE names 21 free schools approved in wave 14

Twenty-one more free schools have been approved under wave 14 of the programme, which is again dominated by multi-academy trusts. Ministers have announced the first successful free school projects since June 2019. It follows substantial delays to the application process launched two years ago. Wave 14 was first launched in January 2019 by former education […]

Free schools can follow Nightingale lead

The rapid creation of temporary Nightingale hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic shows free schools shouldn’t have to wait for years to open, says a director at the New Schools Network. Sophie Harrison-Byrne, the director of programmes at the free schools support organisation, also urged the government to approve fewer bids from academy trusts “that simply […]

Coronavirus: New free schools face disruption after building delays

New schools due to open this September are facing delays as construction is suspended or delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The setback comes as secondaries scramble to deal with a population bulge following an early-2000s baby boom. Data from the Department for Education recently revealed 17 per cent of secondary schools were […]

DfE property firm’s boss got 拢30k bonus, despite missed value-for-money target

The boss of the Department for Education’s property company received a £30,000 bonus last year, despite the organisation missing one of its key targets. Accounts for LocatED, a company set up by the government to find land for new free schools, show Lara Newman received a bonus payment of between £30,000 and £35,000 in 2018-19, […]

Free schools have a ‘branding problem’ says NSN director

Free schools have a “branding problem” and the “political will” behind them has diminished in recent years, the director of the New Schools Network has warned. Unity Howard, who runs the charity set up to support and promote free schools, told a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester today that free schools […]

New free school bids round leaves AP out in the cold

The government’s latest free school wave does not allow applications for new alternative provision, despite a major pledge from ministers to encourage and prioritise them. Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, told The Times earlier this month that opening new schools for excluded pupils would be prioritised. And when the Department for Education this week launched […]

Licence fees to almost double for cash-strapped UTCs

The Baker Dearing Trust is set to double the membership fee that university technical colleges have to pay, meaning the charity will collect nearly £500,000 annually from the cash-strapped institutions. The charity’s new chief executive, Simon Connell, has defended upping the annual fee, which will increase from £5,500 to £10,000 this September. But the unexpected […]