Russell Haggar

Site Owner

Free Schools

What’s the difference between a free school and an academy? In law, free schools operate as academies. However, free schools are entirely new state schools, whereas most academies are either converters or sponsored academies, and will have previously been maintained schools.” Further official information on Free Schools may be found here

The Government's decision to fund the setting up or Free Schools can be seen as an important aspect of its general support for the operation of a quasi-market in education. Thus, it is argued that in localities where parents or teachers or other groups believe that the local authority schools are unsatisfactory, they will now be permitted to set up Fee Schools and that increased competition between the new Free Schools and existing local authority schools will drive up overall educational standards as has occurred, according to the Government, in Sweden where such a system is in operation. Furthermore, the UK Government claim that the introduction of Free Schools will increase equality of educational opportunity for disadvantaged pupils currently being taught in under-performing local authority schools. [However, some critics argue that the UK Government's interpretation of the Swedish experience with Free Schools is not entirely accurate.]

The number of Free Schools has increased under successive Conservative Government 2015-2024, but they still represent only a small proportion of all English Schools.

Click here for information as of May 2025 which indicates that at that time 741  Free Schools were open which represented 3.4% of English State Schools

As stated above the UK Government's case in favour of Free Schools is essentially that the operation of the quasi market will drive up average educational standards and that disadvantaged pupils will benefit from this, but several criticisms of Free Schools were quickly raised when the programme began.

1. It is claimed that they will be set up disproportionately in affluent neighbourhoods and that they may attract "better" teachers from local authority schools. However, a technical study conducted in 2015 [see below] suggested that Free Schools were more likely to be set up in deprived areas but less likely to recruit disadvantaged pupils than were other schools in deprived areas. Consequently “there are no great differences between the social composition of secondary free schools and that of the national average. However, at primary school level there is some evidence that free schools are enrolling children with above average ability. Moreover, there are very substantive differences between the ethnic composition of free schools and other schools.”
2. They may be set up in areas where local authority schools are already undersubscribed thus wasting resources.
3. They may attract the better performing pupils from local authority schools thereby undermining them
4. The combined effects of points 1-3 may be that they lead gradually to the development of a two-tier education system.
5. There is a danger that although Free School Education Providers are not currently allowed to make a profit this condition could be relaxed in the future leading to the indirect privatisation of parts of the education system.
6. Free Schools do not need to employ qualified teachers [which to some extent negates the second part of point above.]
7. They may give too much freedom to faith-based schools or fundamentalist agendas although the UK Government point out that safeguards ensure that such schools must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and that creationism must not be taught as a valid scientific theory

Click here  for  a 2010 BBC item for and against free schools which provides further very useful information relating to the above 7 points.

Click here for an analysis of Free Schools [ BBC 2015]

Click here for Government Statements in support of Free Schools from 2015

Click here for a House of Lords item on Free Schools from 2019

Detailed Reports on Free Schools

Significant reports on Free Schools were provided by the Education Policy Institute [EPI] in 2019 and by the National Foundation for Educational Research [NFER] in 2021. More recent Ofqual and DfE examination data are also provided later in these notes.

The number of free schools has increased significantly since 2010.  Click here for information as of May 2025 which indicates that at that time 741  Free Schools were open which represented 3.4% of English State Schools

Several detailed reports on Free Schools have been published in recent years by the EPI [Education Policy Institute in 2017 and 2019 and by the NFER in 2017 and 2021. Here I shall abstract some of the key points from the EPI Report of 2019 and the NFER Report of 2021.

Click here for EPI Report 2019  and here for a Prospect article in which the Executive Director and Head of Research at the EPI summarises the conclusions of the EPI Report.

 

Key Findings of the EPI 2019 Report {Students could also look at the concise Key Findings section of the Report.]

1. Free Primary School places increased more in areas of high demand than in areas of low demand, but the reverse was the case with Free Secondary schools,
2. Supporters of free schools claimed that they would be more likely to be opened in areas where current school quality was low, but EPI findings indicate the Secondary free school places were significantly more likely to be provided in areas of high school quality than of low school quality, New Primary free school places were slightly more likely to be provided in area of low school quality than in areas of high school quality.
3. “At both primary and secondary, free schools are successfully targeting economically disadvantaged areas in England. However, at primary level, free school intakes are still more affluent than expected for their local areas. Secondary free schools, by contrast, do have intakes that are generally reflective of their communities. 
4. The EPI report draws an important distinction between economic disadvantage and educational; disadvantage and concludes that free schools are particularly likely to recruit pupils who are economically disadvantaged but not educationally disadvantaged.
5. “Other disadvantaged areas, however, remain largely overlooked by the free schools programme. Pupils from ‘hampered neighbourhoods’ and ‘challenged white communities’ are considerably underserved. These are areas where education standards have been historically very low”. Note that this conclusion was highlighted in media coverage of the EPI Report. For example, click here for Schools Week coverage of the EPI Report.
6. A small but growing minority of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) attend special free schools nationally (less than 1%).The number of special free schools is however set to double in the coming years.”

Bearing in mind points 4 and 5 it is clearly difficult to estimate the impact of free schools on the attainments of pupils eligible for free school meals. It might be shown that pupils eligible for free school meals in free schools achieve better examination results than in other schools, but this may be because of differing characteristics of free school meal eligible pupils in free schools in comparison with other schools. It is well known for example that white British pupils eligible for free school meals are less likely to achieve good examination results than are free school meal- eligible pupils in other ethnic groups. This point is emphasised  here in a  Prospect article in which the Executive Director and Head of Research at the EPI summarises the conclusions of the EPI Report.

Click here   for more recent data a indicating that differences in GCSE Results for all pupils differ only slightly as between different types of schools but results for Free School Meal Eligible pupils are considerably better in Free Schools than in other types of schools. However, as suggested above, this may be because the characteristics of free school meal  eligible pupils in free schools may differ from the characteristics of free school meal eligible pupils in other types of school.

 

Click here to Download  the NFER Report 2021. The short Executive Summary provides some useful information.

This NFER Report indicates that Free Schools are more likely than other state schools to be rated as Outstanding by OFSTED. I have illustrated this by extracting data from the most recent available OFSTED interactive graphic .

However the OFSTED Inspections regime is not without its critics as is discussed in Section TWO  Part 9 of this document and you may also   Click here for an analysis of OFSTED Inspections from fft educationdatalab  which indicates that schools with larger proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals are disproportionately likely to be judged as requiring improvement or as  inadequate by OFSTED. Such criticisms are rejected by spokespersons for OFSTED.

OFSTED Ratings of All English State Schools and Different Types of English State Schools as at December 2021 [ Black=All Schools; Blue= Primary Schools; Red =Secondary Schools; Nursery Schools and PRUs not included]

 

The percentages in this table refer to the most recent judgements of all schools which OFSTED has inspected up to and including 2021. They do not refer only to OFSTED judgements made in 2021.

It may be that as OFSTED begin to inspect more schools which are currently judged outstanding, the overall percentage of schools judged outstanding may begin to fall if many schools currently judged outstanding are in future judged to have deteriorated.

• The NFER Report states that “Free school pupils were disproportionally likely to come from an ethnic background, have a first language other than English, and be based in London. Secondary free school pupils were also significantly more likely to be from a disadvantaged background, although this is largely because free schools are in regions with higher levels of disadvantage. Free school pupils were also more likely to move from another school than other pupils, particularly during primary school.” [The 2021 NFER Report does not seem to draw the distinction between economic disadvantage and educational disadvantage which is made in the 2019 EPI Report, and this means that it is difficult to assess with certainty the impact of the Fee Schools Programme on the prospects of economically disadvantaged pupils.]
• Although Primary Free Schools were more likely than other state primary schools to be judged outstanding, Key Stage 2 results in Free primary schools were worse than in other state schools. Also “the progress made by pupils in LA maintained schools and converter academies was marginally higher than the national average in math but similar for reading and writing. In general pupils in free schools made the least progress across all individual subjects “. [ For further information Click here and scroll  to page 6 of this DfE publication]. Of course, OFSTED does not base its judgements solely on examination results and rightly so but the relatively disappointing KS 2 results of Free Schools are a cause for concern.
• In 2019 at Key Stage 4 Free school pupils obtained marginally better GCSE results than pupils in other State Secondary schools. For detailed statistics click here and then on National Tables and here on Table 2. Table 2 is fairly complex in that it distinguishes between the several different types of state secondary school although there are no separate data for Grammar Schools. By comparison with pupils in all maintained secondary schools, free school pupils had a higher Attainment 8 score [48.2 v 47.4];  free school pupils were more likely  to pass GCSE Maths and English with grades 9-4 [67.1% v 65.7%];   a larger percentage  of free school pupils passed all EBacc components with grades 9-4 [ 22.5 % v 17.4%] although this was partly because a larger % of free school pupils actually entered all EBacc subjects];   and free schools had a higher Progress 8 score [0.21 v 0.01.]

• It is also necessary to assess the extent to which these better free school results arise because of differences in the pupil characteristics as between free schools and other state schools The Report from the Education Policy Institute [2019] concluded that some but not all of positive difference in examination results could be explained by differences in pupil intakes  while a report from the NFER [2021 ] concluded that “Free school pupils achieved the equivalent of a tenth of a grade higher in each subject at KS4 (during Years 7 to 11 inclusive) compared to their peers in other schools, once pupil and school-level characteristics were controlled for. Disadvantaged free school pupils also outperformed their peers in other schools, but this difference may have occurred by chance.” This final sentence indicates that it certainly would not be fair to argue that on current evidence the introduction of free schools has significantly improved the prospects of pupils eligible for free school meals

• Regarding results for 16–19-year-olds the 2021 NFER Report concluded that “Free school performance at KS5 differed between 16-19 free schools, which provide sixth form education only, and secondary and all through free schools that have a sixth form. Pupils attending 16-19 free schools outperformed pupils in other schools. However, sixth form pupils in secondary and all-through free schools performed worse than their counterparts in other schools.”

My own conclusion, for what it is worth, is that although free schools are indeed more likely than other state schools to be judged outstanding by OFSTED, Key stage 2 results in 2019 were worse in free schools than in other state schools. KS4 results are slightly higher in free schools than in other state secondary schools and it is claimed in 2 significant recent reports that not all of this difference in results can be explained by differences in pupil intake as between free schools and other state secondary schools. Free school provision at KS 5 level is variable; Free 16-19 schools perform relatively well but 6^th form provision in all -through secondary free schools is below par. There is little evidence that free schools significantly improve the prospects of pupils on free school meals. .

Click here for an item on Michaela community school [Guardian 2019]

Click here for a recent critical assessment of the Free Schools Programme [Fiona Millar Guardian 2021]

Click here for ongoing coverage of Free Schools from The Guardian

Click here for information on a new UCL project to be conducted over the next two years. I shall be returning to this!  New links added 2025   Click here for a detailed paper from the Institute of Education- Faculty of Education and Society [2024]. Click here For Guardian report of Institute of Education paper [2024]

 

In the White Paper of 2022, it was announced the 55 local authorities with weak educational attainment levels would be designated Education Investment Areas and offered extra investment to improve educational attainment and that when the Opportunity Area ended in September 2022, the original 12 Opportunity Areas along with 12 further local authorities would be designated Priority Education Investment Areas within the new 55 Education Investment Areas.

You may  Click here for a recent Guardian article which summarises the ways in which the Government hopes to improve educational attainment in Education Investment area and Education Priority areas and note that as part of their education strategy The Government intends to priorities Investment Areas for 15 new Free Schools including three new specialist [and selective] Sixth Form Free Schools.

Click here for the recent announcement [August 2023] that the Government has accepted plans for the building of 15 new Free Schools in these areas including 3 selective sixth form colleges. You may also click here for BBC coverage and here for a Guardian article critical of selective sixth form education.

 

In the Government announcement It is emphasised that “Free schools outperformed other types of non-selective state schools in England in last week’s A level results. Around 35% of A levels taken by pupils in free schools achieved a grade A or A* compared to 22% studied by pupils in local authority schools” and also that “Free schools bring high standards, more choice for parents and strong links to industry – and all in the areas where those opportunities are needed most.”

The first of these statements is certainly true but it is necessary to consider recent examination results in a little more detail.

 

Further Information on GCSE and GCE Advanced Level Results of Pupils attending Free Schools

 

Click here for information as of May 2025 which indicates that at that time 741  Free Schools were open which represented 3.4% of English State Schools

 

GCSE Results by Centre Type

You may click here and follow the GCSE link for Ofqual data comparing GCSE results in differing types of schools. Unfortunately the above  link to results by centre type may be slow and, if so, you may try this alternative link.

These data indicate that Free School candidates accumulated more Grade 7 and above results and more Grade 4 and above results than candidates from LA Maintained Mainstream Secondary schools. However, the differences in attainment were in both cases very small.

You may  Click here for KS 4 202324  and  here for extracted data on attainments of FSM and FSM all other pupils in Free schools, Converter academies, Sponsored academies and LA maintained mainstream schools.

The term “FSM all other” refers to pupils not eligible for free schools and pupils who may be eligible for free school meals but have not claimed them.

Comparing Free Schools with LA maintained mainstream schools for FSM all other pupils and for FSM pupils indicates that in both cases these pupils in Free schools narrowly outperformed those in LA maintained mainstream schools in terms of Average Attainment 8 score and in terms of percentages of pupils achieving Grades 4 or higher and Grades 5 or higher in English and Mathematics GCSEs.

FSM all other pupils in free schools and FSM eligible pupils in free schools outperformed FSM all other pupils and FSM eligible pupils in LA maintained mainstream schools significantly in terms of EBacc achievement, but this can be explained partly by the fact that EBacc entry rates are much higher in Free Schools

However, as has been suggested in more detailed analyses, in the cases of FSM all other pupils and pupils eligible for Free School meals it may be that differences in achievement are explicable partly by differences in intakes, and so even though we have quite detailed statistics they cannot be used to assess unequivocally the relative effectiveness of different types of schools.

Also, might it be unwise to recommend the expansion of the Free Schools programme based on the perceived performance of the relatively small number of Free Schools which currently exist?

GCE Advanced Level Results by Centre Type

You may click here and follow the A Level link for Ofqual data comparing GCSE results in differing types of schools.  The above link may be slow and if so, you may try this alternative link

 

These data indicate that Free school candidates accumulated significantly more Grade A  and above results than candidates from LA maintained mainstream schools. However, the differences in GCE Advanced Level results attainment in terms of Grade C results by Centre Type was very small.

Click here for A Level and other 16-18 results 2023/2024  and here for extracted data on Attainment and other performance measures-by institution type and gender in 2023/2024 These data indicate that there were significant differences in GCE Advanced Level results as between  of Free Schools and Free Schools 16-19. I return to this point below.

An item from the Education Hub of the DfE emphasised the effectiveness of Free Schools as follows.

 

How are free schools improving access to quality education?                                       

“There are over 650 free schools in England with more than 350,000 pupils. They provide parents with more choice and offer high standards of education.

Secondary free schools are among the highest performing state-funded schools in the country. Primary, secondary and 16-19 free schools all out-perform the national average in Good or Outstanding Ofsted ratings.

In this year’s A level results, free schools outperformed other types of non-selective state schools. Around 35 per cent of A levels taken by pupils in free schools achieved a grade A or A* compared to 22 per cent studied by pupils in local authority schools.

That is why we are opening fifteen more free schools in areas with the lowest educational outcomes – creating more school places where there is the greatest need. This means more children will have access to a great education in their local area.”

However, in relation to the superior A Level results of Free Schools as illustrated in the above quotation we should also note the following points.

 

Free Schools accounted for only 104 A Level centres which suggests that it may be dangerous to generalise from such a small sample.

The DfE data distinguish between the performances of 16-19 Free Schools and 11-19 Free Schools. The performance of 16-19 Free Schools is indeed superior to that of LA maintained mainstream schools but that of 11-19 free schools is very similar in terms of Average A level result but worse in terms of proportions of students gaining high grade A level passes by comparison with LA maintained mainstream schools.

Also, although Free Schools in general are not permitted to select by ability, this restriction does not apply to 16-19 Free Schools. Although all state schools impose some entry restrictions on access to A level courses. it may well be that 16-19 Free Schools are on average more selective in relation to A Level access than LA maintained mainstream schools which may well help to explain their superior A level results.

It was recognised early on that many of 16-19 Free Schools  would be highly selective as is indicated  here  and for examples of  highly selective 16-19 Free Schools Click here for Kings Maths School  and here   for the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham

Click here  for an item on Sir Mufti Hamid Patel  the Chief Executive of Star Academy Trust who began by taking over failing State Schools but is now also involved with the foundation in disadvantaged areas of specialised selective Sixth Form Free Schools in collaboration with Eton College.

Click here for BBC coverage and here  for ITV coverage of the announcement of the Star Academy- Eton Sixth Form Free Schools

Click here [Schools week] and here [fft educationdatalab] and here  [Feweek] and  here [Guardian] for some critical assessments of selective Sixth Form Colleges.

Should the Government have made clear the differences in examination results of different types of Free schools and the extent to which some 16-19 Free schools are highly selective?

 

Further Reading

Click here  for Free Schools fail to fulfil their original purpose [Sutton Trust 2018]

Click here for a detailed paper from the Institute of Education- Faculty of Education and Society [2024]

Click here For Guardian report of Institute of Education paper [2024]

Click here  for the Guardian Free School Page