The government has approved 131 new free schools, creating around 69,000 places for pupils.

Today’s announcement comes ahead of the publication of the government’s White Paper, which will set out plans to increase the number of grammar schools.

The Department for Education has not revealed whether any of the 131 new free schools will be selective and would only say that this would be impossible unless the law was changed. One of the approved free schools is proposed by the selective Barton Court Grammar School in Canterbury, but the plans are for an “all ability range” secondary.

The Barton Court Academy Trust Free School is due to provide 1,050 places for 11- to 19-year-olds, next to the existing grammar school.

The DfE dismissed questions about whether any of the new free schools could become academically selective in the future as “speculation”.

Other new schools include a primary that will have a total of 30 boarding places for year 5 and year 6 pupils.

The Sapientia Primary Prep School, in Norfolk, for 4-11 year-olds will be sponsored by Wymondham College, England’s largest state boarding school.

Education secretary Justine Greening said: “We need schools that can bring out the best in every single child no matter where they’re growing up, how much their parents earn, or however different their talents are.

“That’s why these new schools are so important - they give us the school places we need for the future, and they also give parents more choices to find a great school place in their area that’s right for their child.”

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said new school places were “welcome and necessary”, but accused the government of failing to deliver the number of places needed by 2020.

She added: “The free schools programme has been proven to be an enormously expensive and inefficient way to create school places.

“Today’s announcement alone almost certainly comes with a huge price tag, without necessarily even providing new school places in the areas that need them most.”

The 131 new free schools include 20 special schools that local authorities have identified a need for, that will create 1,700 places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.

Excluding these special schools, there will be 27 new free schools in the South East, creating 15,429 new places, but only two in the North East, creating 204 places.

Toby Young, director of the government-backed free schools charity New Schools Network, said: “The fact that so many of the free schools approved in this wave are outside of London, with over 21 in the Midlands alone, demonstrates this government’s commitment to extending the benefits of the free schools policy to all parts of the country.”

 

List of new free schools, excluding those meeting a need identified by local authorities:

Name of school Type of school Phase Local authority Abbey Farm Educate Together Primary Free school - Mainstream Primary Swindon ACE Sky Academy and Eden Project Nursery Free school - Mainstream Primary Cornwall Badbury Park Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Swindon Barton Court Academy Trust (BCAT) Free School Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Kent Beam Bridge School Free school - Special All-Through  Barking and Dagenham Bearsted Academy Free school - Special Secondary Kent Bideford Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary Devon Bishop Hancock Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Bath and North East Somerset Blakenall Free School Free school - Mainstream Secondary Walsall BOA Digital Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Birmingham Bohunt Horsham Free school - Mainstream All-Through West Sussex Boorley Green Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Hampshire Buckton Fields Primary School (Preston Hedge’s Academy Trust) Free school - Mainstream Primary Northamptonshire Cambrai Community Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary North Yorkshire Cambridge City Free School Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Cambridgeshire Cambridge Mathematics School Free school - Mainstream 16-19  Cambridgeshire Chatten Free School Free school - Special All-Through  Essex Christ Church CofE Secondary Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Birmingham CHS South Free school - Mainstream Secondary Manchester Cleeve School Free school - Special Secondary  Bexley Collegiate Free Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Croydon Corby Secondary Academy  Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Northamptonshire Coseley Technology Primary  Free school - Mainstream Primary Dudley CSAT Northern Gateway Free school - Mainstream Primary Kent Damnonii Academy Free school - Special All-Through  Devon Darlaston Technology Primary Free school - Mainstream Primary Walsall David Kirk Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary Hampshire Discovery Special Academy Free school - Special Primary Middlesbrough Durham Gateway Academy Free school - Alternative Provision Secondary Durham Eden Boys’ Leadership Academy II, Birmingham  Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Birmingham Eden Boys’ Leadership Academy, Bradford Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Bradford Euler Academy Free school - Alternative Provision Primary Kingston Upon Hull Felix Culpa Academy Free school - Alternative Provision Secondary Stoke-on-Trent Forge Wood High School  Free school - Mainstream Secondary  West Sussex Free School 2: The Workplace (Alternative Provision) Free school - Alternative Provision Secondary East Sussex Friars East Free School Free school - Special Secondary  Northamptonshire Godmanchester Secondary Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Cambridgeshire Grangewood All-through Free School Free school - Special All-Through  Hillingdon Grove CE Academy Free school - Mainstream All-Through Oxfordshire Hampton East Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Peterborough Harlestone Road Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary Northamptonshire Harris Academy For Boys, Royal Greenwich  Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Greenwich Harris Academy Sydenham Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Bromley Harris Primary Charlton/Blackheath Free school - Mainstream Primary Greenwich Houghton Gate School Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Northamptonshire Hurst Farm Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary West Sussex John Taylor Free School Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Staffordshire Keeble Gateway Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary North Yorkshire Kilnwood Vale Primary School (GLF) Free school - Mainstream Primary West Sussex Launceston College Primary Campus Free school - Mainstream Primary Cornwall Laurence Calvert Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Leeds Learn@ Specialist Academy Free school - Special All-Through  Bristol Leicester Metropolitan Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Leicester Lewisham Church of England Secondary School Free school - Mainstream Secondary Lewisham Linden Hill Free school - Special All-Through  Surrey Maaz Free School Free school - Special All-Through  Richmond upon Thames Maidstone Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary Kent Medway Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Medway Moorcroft Primary Free School Free school - Special Primary Hillingdon Mulberry Nursery and Primary School  Free school - Mainstream Primary Tower Hamlets New Horizons West Durrington (Bluebell) Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary West Sussex Newquay Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary Cornwall North Iffley Academy Free school - Special All-Through  Oxfordshire North Star Academy Free school - Alternative Provision All-Through Bristol North West Leeds Sixth Form Centre Free school - Mainstream 16-19  Leeds North Worcester Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Worcestershire Northstowe Special Academy Free school - Special All-Through  Cambridgeshire Oasis Academy Oldham 2 Free school - Mainstream Secondary Oldham Oasis Academy South Bristol Free school - Mainstream Secondary Bristol Oasis Academy Temple Quarter Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Bristol Orsett Heath Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Thurrock Paignton Church of England Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Torbay Paston Reserve Primary Free school - Mainstream Primary Peterborough Pix Brook Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Central Bedfordshire Poplar Farm School Free school - Mainstream Primary Lincolnshire Primary First Trust Gravesham Free school - Mainstream Primary Kent Prince Albert High School Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Birmingham Rochester Riverside Church of England Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Medway Rushey Mead Free School Free school - Mainstream Secondary Leicester Sandy Lane Academy Free school - Special All-Through Central Bedfordshire Sapientia Primary Prep Free school - Mainstream Primary Norfolk School 21 Campus Free school - Mainstream All-Through  Newham School 21 Sugar House Free school - Mainstream All-Through  Newham SEAX Trust Free School Free school - Special All-Through Essex South Bank Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary Leeds Sponne School Daventry Free school - Mainstream Secondary Northamptonshire St Bede’s Inter-Church School  Free school - Mainstream Secondary Cambridgeshire St Clement CE Primary Academy Free school - Mainstream Primary West Sussex St Neots Academy Free school - Mainstream Secondary Cambridgeshire Stone Lodge Academy, Dartford Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Kent Summerdown  Free school - Special All-Through East Sussex Surrey Downs Court Free school - Special All-Through  Surrey Thames View Bridge School Free school - Special All-Through  Barking and Dagenham Thameside Secondary School Free school - Mainstream Secondary Thurrock The Beeches Free school - Alternative Provision Primary Medway The Cavendish School Free school - Special All-Through  Cambridgeshire The Flagship School Free school - Special All-Through East Sussex The Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School (IKB) Free school - Mainstream Primary Somerset The Laurus AP School Free school - Alternative Provision Secondary Stockport The Maritime Academy Free school - Mainstream All-Through  Medway The Olive School, Manchester Free school - Mainstream Primary Manchester The Saracens Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Barnet The Working Title School  Free school - Mainstream 16-19 Islington Treetops Special Free School Free school - Special All-Through Thurrock Tudor Grange Primary Academy Meon Vale Free school - Mainstream Primary Warwickshire Turner Academy Folkestone  Free school - Mainstream Secondary  Kent UK Fast/Dean Trust Free school - Mainstream Secondary Manchester Wickhurst Green Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary West Sussex Willenhall Technology Primary  Free school - Mainstream Primary Walsall Windmill Hill Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Torbay Wing Primary School Free school - Mainstream Primary Cambridgeshire