The news of more specialist sixth-form provisions certainly led to some heated debate on social media about the merits of this approach.

But I think there can be no doubt this is exactly what the sector needs to see if we are to give all students the chance to succeed and it is clear from the track record of provision of this type that it can have a big impact.

For instance, I vividly remember visiting King’s Maths School where an articulate and passionate 17-year-old patiently talked me through the designs for a hoverboard he’d created as I sat bamboozled by his complex maths in front of me. 

Other settings such as the London Academy of Excellence (LAE) and Exeter Mathematics School (EMS) also do fantastic work in this same vein. But there are not enough and this means many students are missing out on the outstanding education these institutions offer. 

Why do we need more?

This is partly because the schools that do exist offering this are predominantly in London and the South, meaning too many students are left to go without because they were born in the wrong place. 

So, let’s have more of them. Let’s work with leading universities, arts institutions and private schools to establish these centres of excellence across the country, and in particular, in the 55 areas that the Department for Education has identified as being of real concern.

Free schools won’t turn these places around by themselves, but they are an important part of the solution. 

We know that they work, and they genuinely improve students’ life chances. Areas of entrenched educational failure would especially benefit from the new ideas and fresh impetus they bring. 

We are already seeing this happen: before LAE was founded in 2012 only three students gained places to Oxbridge from Newham, and fewer than 40 went to Russell Group universities. 

Since 2014, LAE has sent more than 120 students to Oxbridge, and more than 1,200 students to the Russell Group. 

Once established, these schools should then act as a beacon for other schools to learn from too. 

Boosting community 

Free schools should be bringing innovation into the system, and then sharing best practices and collaborating with other schools in order to improve the whole system, for every child. This wider contribution is a hallmark of the most high-impact free schools.

It’s important to note as well that this type of free school does this without significantly impacting nearby post-16 provisions. 

They take a relatively small number of students from a wide catchment area but have a far greater impact in terms of raising aspirations and outcomes across their community. 

Although only a small part of the system, these schools can then work alongside existing schools in a mutually supportive way. 

We know already that schools like LAE and EMS do more for their communities than just educate their own cohorts; they offer mentoring, volunteering, enrichment days and masterclasses to ensure young people from across the region get the opportunity to benefit from their specialist provision.

We need more of this sort of community outreach, and it is good that it is a condition of approving these schools. 

And these schools must be open to all students.

Access for all

While they will be seen as “elite” schools, they shouldn’t be (and aren’t) walled off through privilege, attainable only to those who can pay for private tutoring to ensure they meet the high standards. 

These schools must actively engage with the most disadvantaged in their communities to make sure that everyone gets a chance to attend. 

We are already seeing free schools do this, going out into their communities and interacting with the most disadvantaged children to encourage them to aspire to join the most academically rigorous schools, as well as supporting them to meet the entry requirements through mentoring or application support. 

While these entry requirements could prove challenging, we are seeing schools use aptitude rather than ability tests to select for potential rather than prior attainment (eg, University of Liverpool, ELAM and London Screen Academy), and actively look to prioritise underrepresented groups in admissions policies (eg, LAE and King’s Maths School).

These free schools are also expected to support young people who do not attend the school - the University of Liverpool Mathematics School runs free online courses for Year 12 and 13 students across the country to share access to their teachers and the school’s wider expertise, as well as providing CPD to maths teachers. 

More issues to tackle

However, there will of course be a limit to what these schools can achieve for their communities, and we should not expect them to be the cure-all that will transform education in this country. 

These educational cold spots desperately need support to improve the quality of education at every stage of a child’s education.

We need a rising tide of better school standards across the country to ensure that no child gets left behind. The government has pledged before to level up, and we are still waiting to see what this will look like in the coming years. 

Today’s announcement is a welcome step in the right direction as the most struggling areas will get a boost, but we need to hear clear plans on how stagnating standards will be addressed more broadly. 

But for now, more outstanding schools can only be a good thing. While there are currently too few open, more specialist sixth forms will be a huge boost for the young people who get to study in them. We look forward to working with these schools over the next few years to ensure they help as many brilliant students as possible.

Sophie Harrison-Byrne is director of New Schools Network