Free Schools can be established for a variety of reasons ranging from a lack of available places at a nearby school to the more high profile cases of a local school being judged unsatisfactory by the local community.
The Department for Education explains: "Free Schools are non-profit making, independent, state-funded schools. There is not a ’one-size-fits-all’ approach. They are not defined by size or location: there is not a single type of Free School or a single reason for setting them up. Free Schools could be primary or secondary schools. They could be located in traditional school buildings or appropriate community spaces such as office buildings or church halls. They could be set up by a wide range of proposers – including charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, visionary teachers or committed parents – who want to make a difference to the educational landscape. They might be needed because there simply are not enough school places in a local area and children have to travel too far to the nearest school."
In practice, once a school has been established there is little discernible difference between Academies and Free Schools. Both receive funds from central government, are free from LEA control and are able to choose their own curriculum. They also have the freedom to alter the length of terms and school days and have greater control of their budget and staff pay and conditions.
"Like Academies, Free Schools will be funded on a comparable basis to other state-funded schools. Groups running Free Schools cannot make a profit. They will be subject to the same Ofsted inspections as all state schools and will be expected to maintain the same rigorous standards," says the Government.
To combat concerns about exclusivity, the Government has made its position on the admission procedure clear: "The admissions arrangements of any Free School must be fair and transparent. Free Schools are expected to be open to pupils of all abilities from the area and cannot be academically selective. Free Schools will need to take part in their local coordinated admissions process, and so parents apply for places for their child in the same way as any other local school." The approval process will be 'robust' insists the Department for Education, adding: "In the UK it is clear from the academies programme that when schools have autonomy on what is taught and how a school is managed, it has transformed the life chances of pupils who attend these schools."
Education has always been an area of innovation versus tradition but Free Schools have become a contentious issue even as part of this landscape. Rebecca Waller-Davies explains....
In truth, the debate on Free Schools features many opposing extremes; this explains why so many are up in arms, but does not make the picture any clearer.
One issue at the heart of the Free Schools programme is that of the practical implications of an idealistic scheme. In January, during his visit to the King Solomon Academy in Lisson Grove, Westminster, Michael Gove spoke of the benefits of greater idealism when 'transforming our state education for the better.'
One extreme is that of tradition versus innovation. The Free Schools programme is an incredibly innovative scheme, yet the most high profile of the new schools is the West London Free School which will 'provide a traditional, grammar school curriculum.'
Critics of the Free Schools programme are of the opinion that the scheme will be divisive. Christine Blower, General Secretary of the NUT said in a press release: "The expansion of the academies and Free Schools programme is a wrong move and will lead to a two tier education system."
These fears beg the question: can a two tier education system ever be avoided? The comprehensive system may have put an end to grammar school segregation but it also resulted in 'sink schools' many of which are located in severely deprived areas. Will Free Schools lessen or intensify this problem?
Issues of segregated education are not particular to the UK. Both Sweden and the US have attempted to combat this problem with Free Schools. The government refers to Free Schools in both countries as 'successful' schemes.
Sweden's radical 1992 education policy has seen Free Schools prove popular with parents. One headmaster of a state run school school in Sweden said in a BBC interview: "The impact of Free Schools has been better quality - competition has kept us on our toes." However, he also admitted to having concerns that Free Schools had the potential to disrupt the existing harmony of the education system.
Meanwhile, in a candid interview with the BBC, Per Thurlberg, Director General of the Swedish National Agency for Education, stated that academic results had not improved since the introduction of Free Schools, despite the competitive aspect of the system. He said: "The student's in the new schools have in general better standards, but it has to do with their parents, their backgrounds. They come from well educated families."
The US model presents a similarly mixed picture. One strand of the charter schools alliance, the Knowledge is Power programme (KIPP), has seen 85% of their students progress to college despite 80% of all pupils being from low-income backgrounds, an undeniably successful result.
A study cited by the NASUWT and conducted by Stanford University however, offers a less impressive result, concluding that less than one fifth of charter schools had performed better than their state counterparts whilst roughly 50% achieved similar results and 37% attained notably poorer grades.
Ray Barker, Director of BESA clears up questions of funding
According to the DfE, the annual revenue funding for Free Schools in 2011-12 will be based on the average funding received by maintained schools and Academies in the same local authority using a simple and transparent formula: basic local funding for each pupil attending the school; additional local funding for each pupil attending the school who qualifies for free school meals; additional national Pupil Premium for each pupil attending the school who qualifies; a grant which compensates for the services that maintained schools receive free of charge from their local authority; separately calculated funding for any sixth-form pupils; a fixed sum of £95,000 for each primary or all-through school; a grant to cover the cost of insurance and rates and additional funding, from the local authority, for pupils with SEN.
Start-up funding will be payable for new Free Schools according to individual need. These schools will work in a similar way to all schools: they will have the power to choose any resources that best suit the needs of their children, whatever the focus of the establishment and they will follow similar procurement routes, e.g. through catalogues and by attending events such as The Education Show and BETT. The interesting point will be who is buying. Will it be parents or community groups and how can providers of education resources education them to know what is best value in terms of educational outcome? Because they can be located in traditional school buildings or appropriate community spaces such as office buildings or church halls – this could also provide a challenge with resource provision in terms of refurbishment. BESA members can help with making the right choices with the security of their Code of Practice.
