Commenting on the announcement of 22 new free
schools, Kevin Courtney, Joint
General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“After nine years of this failed policy, the Government’s claims
about the successes of the free schools project ring hollow.
“5% of all free schools that have opened since 2010 have either
closed completely or been transferred to different academy
trusts, while more than 40 approved projects have not opened at
all. This is a massive waste of resources and money, but we must
remember that the closure of a school has a huge impact on
families and staff and it is the local authority that has to pick
up the pieces.
“The harmful effects of the policy do not end there. The opening
of free schools has been shown to harm neighbouring schools in
areas where there is no shortage of places, and hence their
funding. There is absolutely no logic in allowing free schools to
open in areas where there are already enough school places while
shortages exist in other areas.
“Free schools also exacerbate and reproduce inequalities in the
education system - their intakes are more affluent than the
average for the neighbourhoods in which they are based. This is
particularly the case for primary free schools, which tend to
recruit students with above-average prior attainment.
“No amount of bluster about free schools raising standards or
driving innovation can mask the truth. The free schools project
is now a vehicle for big academy chains to open new schools
wherever they choose and without any regard to the impact on
pupils or their families in neighbouring schools. Seven chains
announcing new schools today have already opened 10 or more
schools. As the National Foundation for Educational Research and
the Sutton Trust concluded in their study last year, free schools
are failing to fulfil the programme’s stated aim of offering
innovative and parent-led approaches. Instead, they are merely an
ideological vehicle for the Conservatives’ failed education
policies.”
