Another 'Free School' post here-does anyone know how they will be implemented!?

[Teachermumof3]

There's an article in our local paper about a group of parents starting up a school equidistant to two Ofsted classified 'Outstanding' schools; in a lovely affluent area. They want their school to offer small class sizes and more 1-1 teaching.

I just don't understand how this would work; isn't it getting private school 'advantages' paid for by the state?! Can anyone enlighten me?!

Free schools will get the same amount of money per head as a state school, if they can find ways to have smaller class sizes with the same amount of money good luck to them.

A free school gets the same amount of money per pupil as an academy. That is a little more than a state school receives because a free school, like an academy, has to provide some things itself that a state school receives from the LA. However the LA retains funding for some services which it provides to academies/free schools.

And they get some money to start the place up. But that is a once off payment. And obv if the LEA was to open a new school there would be big costs there too.

Interestingly they get the same money per child wherever they are in the country - but they'll have to pay more to run the school in London.

I think with the amount of money they're getting you could run a very nice school somewhere where wages and rent is cheap.

They're pretty much the same as academies, except that academies are established schools and free schools are new schools.

No one can predict what future govts will do, but there will be so many free schools and academies by the time govts change that it won't be feasible to close them down - because then all those kids will have to go to maintained schools, and there won't be enough places for them.....