David Cameron has vowed he will ‘not waver’ in his commitment to free schools and has announced another 500 will open over the next five years — creating 270,000 new school places by 2020. Eighteen new projects have been given the go-ahead today, adding to the existing 252 free schools and the 52 new schools opening this week. As the chart above shows, the government’s target is ambitious. To see the commitment through, two waves of new free schools will be announced every year in March and September.
The Prime Minister said the announcement shows that the government is focused on ‘delivering an excellent education and giving parents across the country real choice for their children’. Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, also said the new schools would have a ripple effect across the whole system:
‘We know that free schools don’t just give parents greater choice, they also force existing schools to up their game. Today’s news sends a clear message that we are committed to extending this unprecedented level of choice to more parents than ever before.’
But the naysayers against free schools are louder than ever.
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