FREE SCHOOLS (2)

In my earlier post, I highlighted the reasons why Danes choose to use free schools, and why developments in the U.K. are unlikely to follow the same path.

New figures just published show that free schools remain a minority taste here. Since 2000, the number of state schools has fallen from 1,673 to 1,388 (a drop of almost 20%) while the number of free schools has risen from 460 to 526 (up 14%). However, the differences in pupils are less marked. Since 2007 state school pupils have fallen from 587,643 to 573,393 whereas free school pupils have risen from 92,885 to 96,071.

Taken together, this confirms what I said earlier, namely that one of the main driving forces behind free schools is the consolidation of the state sector into fewer, but larger, schools, mainly on the grounds of cost. This is a process which parents in rural areas in particular don't like. But it is not one which is the prime motivator for free schools in the U.K.

Walter Blotscher