Conference season is well underway. While, of course, Brexit and the Supreme Court judgment continue to dominate, there has been an undeniable buzz of excitement around education policy over the past few weeks. 

Conservative Party conference kicks off this weekend, and with free schools set to be the centrepiece of Gavin Williamson’s speech, I hope we will see a genuine commitment to action - not just warm words - from the secretary of state for education.

The prime minister’s recent announcement of a new wave of free schools offers an encouraging start to the reinvigoration of the free-schools programme - gravitating back to its roots in communities and innovation. But this conference offers an opportunity to flesh out how these pledges will be delivered on the ground.

There are five pledges in particular that we are hoping to hear.

1. More alternative provision

The prime minister’s support for more alternative provision (AP) free schools is promising. Astonishingly, there are 11 councils across the country that have no ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ AP schools. That is a disgrace. 

The Department for Education’s recent approval of a paltry two AP bids, in comparison with 37 approved bids for special schools, demonstrates a failure to really grip the challenge of transforming educational standards for the most vulnerable. Schools like Harmonize Academy in Liverpool achieved remarkable results this year, with 81 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs, compared with 12.3 per cent nationally in AP schools. But the truth is there aren’t enough of them. 

The current process provides disincentives to open an AP rather than a special free school. Local authorities, who hold a statutory duty to provide places for pupils with an education, health and care plan and those who have been permanently excluded, are far less likely to apply to open a school which has as its core mission the rehabilitation and transition back into the mainstream of pupils. The result is that early intervention is simply not available for vulnerable pupils who are not necessarily eligible for a long-term place at a special school.

So pledge number one needs to be a dedicated wave of AP free schools as Williamson’s top priority, so that more schools like Harmonize can open across the country.

2. More innovation

The second pledge should be a bold recommitment to innovation.

This mission has been a defining feature of the transformative power of free schools. It’s not about innovation for innovation’s sake, though. Facilitating new and different models is central to driving school improvement. It provides solutions for pupils based on their individual needs, and builds an environment of creativity in which young people can thrive.

Schools such as Dixons Music Primary, where music and performing arts is embedded throughout the curriculum, or the University of Birmingham School, where character development is given equal weight to academic attainment, are leading the way in this. 

 Yet, in recent years, we have seen a cooling of interest in innovation from the DfE, both in their promotion and approval of proposals. 

While Mr Williamson’s invitation to “innovators and trailblazers” is welcome, we hope to see the education secretary reinforce this commitment at conference by prioritising a new mainstream wave of free schools, with innovative specialisms at the core.

We’d like to see him calling on leading Stem, sport, culture and arts institutions to give back to local communities by getting involved in free schools. How wonderful would it be to see a cricket club setting up a free school? Or perhaps the British Museum (or even the V&A for that matter) could take their investment in education that step further.

3. 1,000 new schools by 2024

The third pledge is about scale.

The core mission of the policy must be to spread educational excellence to all areas of the country, particularly those ill-served by poor provision in areas with high disadvantage. But, recently, the combination of limited-application waves with stringent criteria has been like driving with the handbrake on, preventing the programme from being truly transformative. Approving only 30 schools in each wave hinders rather than helps communities that have yet to benefit from a free school.

What’s more, free schools should be about providing good school places, not just new places. It mustn’t just be a policy intervention to tackle councils’ failure to plan properly, so there are enough school places in their local areas. They must do something different, and deliver for communities who have been left behind.

Free schools are the highest-performing type of state school at key stages 1, 4 and 5, and pupils who receive free school meals perform better in free schools than in any other type of school. 

This party conference, we hope to see a commitment from Mr Williamson to expand the programme to areas which need it most, opening 1,000 new schools by 2024.

4. Land available for new schools

The single biggest challenge facing new schools is finding a permanent, secure site. The fact that a large minority of free schools open in temporary accommodation is concerning for curriculum planning, teacher retention, and staff and pupil wellbeing.

Local authorities and the DfE must work closely to come up with positive next steps for this ongoing issue. In the case of inefficient councils, we hope the education secretary will commit to legislating for new powers that compel them to make what is, after all, publicly owned land available to new free schools.

Councils that allow for unreasonable delays put free schools in danger of pushing back their opening date, or not opening at all. This instability causes most harm to the local children in need of a good education. This cannot continue to happen.

5. Collaboration with universities

And, lastly, we want to see more specialist provision for our brightest and best students, prioritising those from disadvantaged backgrounds. We have seen the incredible success of university-sponsored maths schools - bridging the path between school and higher education for many talented young mathematicians. 

We need more across the country but this shouldn’t be limited to maths schools alone. University-sponsored languages and Stem sixth-forms would broaden this programme to alternative subject areas that need specialist provision.

Collaboration is a key ingredient to driving up standards and providing equality of opportunity across the country. Our top universities should be lining up to give back to their communities, by sharing their expertise through the free-school programme. 

Inevitably, much of the Conservative Party conference will be dominated by Brexit.

But my hope is that the secretary of state will deliver on his commitment to ensuring the continued success of the free-school programme, so local communities can see real changes - even if Westminster does not. 

Unity Howard is deputy director of the New Schools Network