The prime minister has promised to continue the free schools programme in her speech to the Conservative Party conference.
Theresa May used this afternoon’s speech to highlight her concerns about the north-south divide in education and reiterated the pledge to build 100 new free schools every year this parliament.
She told delegates: “We will continue to reform education and skills training so that people growing up in Britain today are ready and able to seize the opportunities ahead.
“Starting in our schools - those great drivers of social mobility - where our record is strong and our legacy is proud. Because our reforms are working.
“After years of stagnation under the last Labour government, we are turning things around.
“But there is more to do. Our reform programme goes on. Because it’s simply not good enough that if you live here in the north, you have less chance of attending a good school than someone living in the south.
“So we will extend the free schools programme for a new generation of young people - building 100 new free schools in every year of this parliament. Not because our ideology says so…but because free schools work. And it’s the right thing to do.”
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