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Sixteen 'free schools' set to open
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Just 16 "free schools" will be ready to open their doors at the start of the next academic year in September 2011, Education Secretary Michael Gove has revealed.
Mr Gove rushed through legislation shortly after the election to pave the way for parents, charities and businesses to set up independent schools within the state system, and trumpeted the fact that 700 groups had expressed an interest in the idea.
He insisted that he was "excited by the extent of interest" in the scheme, and said that the approval of 16 free schools to open next year was "well in excess" of his expectations.
But opponents are likely to seize on the figure as a sign of limited enthusiasm for the coalition Government's flagship education reforms.
Mr Gove told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "I expect that there will probably be 16 schools in the very first wave. We have had over 700 groups that have been in contact with a charity called the New Schools Network that has been operational over the last few months.
"Of those 700, about 100 or so have actually put applications in to the Department for Education and of those, there are 16 that are mustard-keen to open in September 2011.
"I have been excited by the extent of interest and by the enthusiasm shown by these inspirational people. Many of them are teachers currently in the state system who want to transform the education of children, often in the very poorest areas."
Mr Gove rejected suggestions that the number of applications to set up free schools and the number of approvals for the 2011 school year was lower than he had been anticipating.
"It is actually well in excess of my hopes," he said. "Before the General Election, people said `You will never get a bill through to facilitate this in the first few weeks of the new Government'. People also said the idea of new schools opening in September 2011 couldn't happen.
"They said it takes three to five years for schools to open, but actually we are making the difference."
