The 2011/12 academic year sees the first free schools opening in England. Free schools, as described by the Department for Education are ‘all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community’.
Free schools, essentially academies, are funded directly by central government rather than local authorities and cannot be run for profit. Free schools also have greater autonomy than state schools and can decide on their curriculum and teachers’ pay, terms and conditions. Free schools are run as academies with communities playing a bigger role in their support and creation.
Prior to the 2010 general election, free schools were a flagship education policy for the Conservative party – clearly signalling their appetite for a diminished role of local authorities in the running of schools. Subsequently, the provision for free schools was included in the Academies Act 2010. The Act also gave existing state schools the opportunity to apply for academy status.
Prior to the Act, the coalition government invited proposals for free schools. According to the Department for Education, as of 11 February 2011 (the deadline for proposals to be received) it had received 323 proposals for the creation of free schools in England.
In principle, free schools appear to be a great idea. The number of proposals received by the Department for Education also suggests many people share that notion. In recognising the need for a school that offers the structure, teaching, values and curriculum that is right for the children of a respective community, charities, community groups, parents, teachers, faith groups and others are now empowered to seek just that. However, what impact will this have on communities and the education landscape in England?
In proposing and establishing a free school, it undoubtedly requires organisation, resources and community support – attributes typically, but by no means exclusively, found in middle class and upwardly mobile communities. Conversely, while the same desire to improve education for children undeniably exists in working class and less affluent communities, often the resources simply aren’t available to pursue such an aim with the same effectiveness as found amongst the middle classes.
Consequently, given there are communities that may find the pursuance of free schools less attainable, there is a risk that free schools will further ghettoise education in a social context. Nevertheless, this is seemingly a consequence ignored, if not realised, by the coalition government.
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The coalition government and supporters of free schools would seek to refute this by arguing that free schools are prohibited from maintaining an academically selective admissions policy. In middle class neighbourhoods, this arguably mitigates the risk of free schools being exclusive to children of the respective community. In theory, there is validity in this. Yet in practice, a school’s intake is typically derived from and therefore reflective of the local community. Children of backgrounds that differ from the wider community are therefore likely to be in a minority.
There is also the argument that free schools can be proposed by groups such as charities, businesses and faith groups and not simply parents and well-organised communities. These groups already have structures and expertise that can assist communities seeking to propose a free school. In communities that would otherwise find this a challenge, such groups can and should assist in achieving this where desired.
Hopefully such instances will be the success stories of free schools that truly do contribute to improving education within communities. Nonetheless, it is likely that the expansion of free schools and academies will largely reflect the social character of the communities they lie within. It is therefore questionable if such scenarios will occur to the extent that they can buck the trend.
The apparent demand for free schools and academies, and the coalition government’s fervour in promoting them, clearly leaves local authorities with a reduced remit in the provision of education. While some may argue this is simply a consequence of the desires of parents, schools and communities, there are more tangible consequences for those schools that remain within the remit of local authorities.
Academies and free schools receive their share of funding for certain services, such as special educational needs, that would otherwise be provided by the respective local authority. This is reflected in the funding directly provided to academies and free schools by central government. Consequently, in areas where state schools have become academies, it is also reflected in a reduction in grants for local authorities from central government.
In May 2011, the BBC reported that a number of local authorities have contested the government’s method of calculating the reduced grants and have sought a judicial review against ministers on this basis. There is clearly a debate to be had regarding the establishment of free schools and academies and the impact on schools that remain within local authority control.
The number of free schools and academies in England is likely to increase as parents, teachers and community groups seek further autonomy in how schools are run. In such instances, it can be argued that the government is simply responding to the wishes of local communities. Conversely, where such demand does not exist, it is likely that academy status will be foisted upon more challenging schools, particularly against a backdrop of the coalition government’s zeal in promoting its flagship education policy.
Diminishing what should be an altruistic role of the state with regard to the provision of education and replacing it with autonomy raises several concerns. It also takes the provision of education a step closer to privatisation – a move that would pit the provision of quality education against profit.
Speculation aside, the initial risk with free schools and academies is the creation and acceptance of a further ghettoised education system. If this does occur, any egalitarianism achieved in post-war education policy will slowly but surely be eroded.
