A charity that has supported free schools for more than a decade since the policy was first launched has not been awarded the government contract to carry on in this role, it was revealed today.
The New Schools Network had bid for the £1.5 million three-year contract to provide free-school support from next month, but it has instead been awarded to the Premier Advisory Group.
The New Schools Network was set up in 2009 by Rachel Wolf, a former adviser to Michael Gove, and has been at the centre of the policy since he introduced it as education secretary at the start of the last decade.
Tom Legge, managing director of Premier Advisory Group, said: “We are delighted to be entrusted with the role of advising organisations and individuals on submitting bids to open more great schools.
“I remember attending a free-schools event and being inspired by Rachel Wolf and her passion for the free-schools movement. Over a decade later, I’m as enthusiastic and supportive of the programme as ever and it’s an honour that PAG has been selected to carry on the excellent work of New Schools Network at a time of huge challenge and opportunity for the sector.”
Delivery of the contract will be led by Charlotte Pearce Cornish, PAG’s director.
She said: ”I feel like I have come full circle. I started my career with NSN and was heavily involved in setting up their development programme and supporting the first waves of special and AP free schools in 2011 and 2012. Since then, there has not been a day that I have not been involved in some way or another with the free-schools programme.”
A ‘thriving free-school community’
The NSN said that the DfE has decided to prioritise support for the new free-school generation and support to applicants, and “will no longer be funding wider support services for open and approved free schools now that there is a thriving free-school community”.
It also confirmed that it had bid for the contract.
David Ross, chair of NSN, said: “Across the country, free schools are proving time and time again their popularity with parents. Both in Ofsted terms and in raising educational standards, they are outperforming all other types of schools in both primary and secondary phases. Some of the best schools in the country are now free schools.
“Free schools are an established part of the landscape, providing a rich contribution to raising standards - be that through Reach Academy Feltham in Hounslow or XP in Doncaster, Dixons in Bradford or Derby Pride Academy - these schools have raised the bar, and are improving education in and beyond their communities.
“We are pleased that free schools remain an important part of this government’s plan to level-up standards and respond where there is a need for more school places. The programme has delivered hundreds of new schools and provided thousands of good school places across the country.
“The Board of Trustees would like to thank everyone who has supported NSN’s drive for more free schools, including NSN’s staff body, and wish all free schools the very best for the future.”
The DfE tender document published earlier this year said the contractor who delivers the free school support service should generate interest and support applicants for special, alternative provision and mainstream free school waves.
It also says the provider will work with local councils to identify the applicant or trust best suited to opening new special free schools.
The contract was said to be worth £1,485,000.
