How to apply to open a special free school

Question 1

Introduction

Accepted Answer

Every child in this country, whatever their background, should have the opportunity to get a world-class education. As set out in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) improvement plan, our ambition for children with SEND is that they are able to:

do their best in school
reach their potential
find employment and lead happy and fulfilled lives

Special free schools make an important contribution to achieving this.

The government will deliver up to 60 new special and alternative provision free schools as part of the £2.6 billion capital investment in high needs provision across the Spending Review period.

In June 2022, we launched the latest special free school wave where we invited local authorities to set out their case for why a new school would benefit their area. We have announced 33 successful local authority applications for special free schools. We are now inviting applications from proposer groups to open the new schools in those areas.

This guidance applies to the central application process only. We will announce further free school approvals in due course for those local authorities who have applied via the Safety Valve programme.

Question 2

Who can apply

Accepted Answer

In this application wave, we are only accepting applications to open new special free schools in the following areas:

Proposer groups can apply to open schools in more than one local authority in this application wave.

We welcome innovation but still expect applications to clearly show the evidence that has been considered. We are particularly looking for applications that:

have a clear vision for how the proposed school will improve outcomes and enhance the life chances of children within the local community
show that the school will deliver the school specification, within the top-up funding specified
demonstrate a commitment to forming and working in local partnerships
clearly show the evidence base used, with an implementation plan
show a clear understanding of the needs of the expected cohort and demonstrate the ability and commitment to meet those needs
can demonstrate that the school will deliver a high standard of education
can demonstrate that the school will set ambitious and realistic expectations for children and support them towards effective preparation for adulthood
offer good value for money, with an affordable education plan
have a strong understanding of the teacher recruitment and retention issues that the school might face, taking into account any local, regional or national factors relevant to your context, with clear mitigations
include specific plans of how teacher workload will be managed and kept under review so that it is sustainable as the school grows

We will only approve one application per school.

Applying as a single academy trust

We will continue to consider applications for high-quality free schools to open initially as standalone trusts (rather than as part of a MAT), to support innovation.

If the school opens as a single academy trust, we will expect the trust to grow and become a multi-academy trust over time. This is so you can share your capacity across the system and operate at an increased scale.

Applying as a new provider

We welcome applications from new providers. If you are a new proposer and need to establish an academy trust, then you must establish one before submitting your application, using the model articles of association relevant to special academies.

More information about setting up an academy trust is available. Additional guidance is available from Create: Schools.

Question 3

Application process

Accepted Answer

Before applying, read this guidance and your chosen local authority’s school specification and contextual information carefully.

The local authority specification outlines the key facts of the school, which will include information about the:

type of school (including the category of SEND)
number of places, commissioning arrangements and top-up funding
age range of the school
proposed location

You should use the information in the school specification, and supporting contextual information, to determine whether to apply to open and run the school. If you would like to apply, then you should use this information as a basis for your application.

Links to all local authority specifications and contextual information are available.

Key dates

Date	Action
9 May 2023	Mandatory pre-registration opens. Proposer groups must pre-register to apply in this wave. We will email application forms to you once you have completed the pre-registration.
9 May 2023	Application window opens. Applications should be sent via email to FS.Applications@education.gov.uk. We will accept completed applications at any point throughout the application window.
16 June 2023	Mandatory pre-registration closes at 5pm.
31 August 2023	Application window closes at midday.
September to October 2023	We will assess the applications.
November to December 2023	Interviews will start. We will invite the groups with the strongest applications to interview.
January 2024	We will announce the successful applications. Groups will then enter the pre-opening phase.

Register your interest

To apply to open a free school, you must register your interest by completing the pre-registration form before 5pm on 16 June 2023.

You can pre-register for up to 5 schools using this form. If you are applying for more than 5 schools, you will need to submit more than one pre-registration form.

The pre-registration form will ask for information on:

which local authority you are applying to open a special free school in
your name and contact details
information about your organisation or group
basic details about your proposal, including proposed name of the school

Preparing your application

Before applying to open a special free school, you should contact the relevant local authority. They can provide more information about:

the local context in the area
the needs of the pupils
who to engage with when developing your plans

Proposer groups will have the opportunity to attend engagement events held by the relevant local authority. These events will provide further information and an opportunity to ask any questions.

We also recommend that you consider speaking to:

your regional director – where possible, existing trusts should raise their expansion plans, including plans to apply for a new school, with their regional director’s office as part of any planned discussions about performance and capacity
Create: Schools who can provide advice on developing your application and put you in contact with other groups that have been successful in previous waves

Completing your application

You must use the application forms provided, which we will only send to you if you complete the mandatory pre-registration. We will not consider your application if you do not use the application forms provided.

You must not amend the format of the application forms as this will disrupt our ability to upload completed applications to our database.

Check the word limit on each section of the application form. We may stop assessing your application if you exceed the word count.

If you are applying to open more than one school, you must complete a separate application form for each school. Where some information is the same, for example, your proposed governance arrangements, include this in both applications.

Identifying a site for the school

In this wave, the responsibility for finding a site lies with the local authority. Local authorities set out their preferred locations as part of their applications. They are now working with DfE and LocatED to identify and secure suitable sites. Further information on locations and sites are in the school specifications.

If you have an identified site, you can tell us about it in section B of the Excel application form. We will only look into this site if it becomes apparent that the site we are already progressing is unsuitable.

Where the permanent site for the school has been secured with planning permission in place (or an acceptable low level of planning risk) we may consider opening in temporary accommodation. The temporary solution must adequately meet the needs of the pupil cohort, and without compromising curriculum delivery. The proposal must be supported by DfE, your local authority and trust.

Submitting your application

Submit your completed application forms by midday on Friday 31 August via email to fs.applications@education.gov.uk.

We will confirm receipt within 5 working days of the application deadline.

Your application forms must not be sent as PDF files. Send them as Word and Excel files. You can submit annexes as PDFs.

Title your application, electronic files, and emails as:

Special free school application_[LOCAL AUTHORITY]_[INSERT NAME OF YOUR GROUP]

Your email should not exceed 9 megabytes in size. Anything larger will not be delivered. If the application is larger than 9 megabytes, split the documents and send 2 (or more) emails clearly indicating that the emails are connected (for example, email 1 of 3).

We will publish a full list of the applications we receive on GOV.UK. Before submitting, read the information about how we will use your personal data.

Assessment of your application

We will assess applications against the assessment criteria and the relevant local authority school specification.

If we assess your application as one of the strongest, we will invite your group to interview. Interviews will be led by DfE with a representative from the relevant local authority. Where there is more than one local authority involved, a representative from the lead local authority will attend. We will tailor interviews based on:

the quality of the application
the strength and track record of the academy trust, where relevant
the local context in which the school will operate and your understanding of the state school system

We will only approve one application per school. If the specification does not attract applications that meet both the local authority school specification and the application criteria, then we will not approve any applications. The Secretary of State may also make the decision to re-run the competition.

The Secretary of State decides which applications to approve. The decisions are final and there is no appeals process. We will not share the scoring of applications with applicants or externally. You will receive feedback if your application is not successful.

Approval of your application does not mean approval of every detail, such as your financial plans, or budget. The Secretary of State may also decide to reprioritise funding for the benefit of the free schools programme as a whole, which means we may cancel your project.

If your application is successful

If your application is successful, we will invite you to move to the pre-opening phase. In this phase, you will need to turn your application into a school ready for opening.

In our experience, projects typically take around 3 years to open. Attempting to open in a shorter timescale is extremely challenging. We will usually only agree a provisional opening date once a site has been confirmed and we have assessed how long it will take to deliver.

Trusts that move into the pre-opening phase will receive a project development grant to cover essential non-capital costs up to the point at which the school opens. You must not use this grant retrospectively to cover any costs incurred in preparing the free school application and getting the school approved into pre-opening. The amount for the grant will vary depending on the number of schools the trust is opening in an academic year.

The school may be delayed or even cancelled in pre-opening for a range of reasons, including:

the capital project fails to make sufficient progress, including if we are unable to secure a suitable site
the costs of the project no longer represent good value for money
we assess that there is no longer a sufficient need to justify the school
we have concerns about the standard of education that would be provided

You can find out more about the pre-opening phase and project development grant in the free school pre-opening guide.

Funding agreement and opening the school

The final decision to open any free school requires the Secretary of State to enter into a legal contract with the academy trust. This is the funding agreement.

A funding agreement will only be signed if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the school will deliver a good standard of education, with a viable and sustainable number of pupils from its first day of operation.

Question 4

Assessment criteria

Accepted Answer

For this application process, all applicants should complete the application form.

There are no different application requirements in place depending on the type of proposer. The information that you provide and its context will vary depending on your experience and background.

Section A – tell us who you are

All applicants must complete this section in full.

In this section we ask you for basic information about your applicant group and your academy trust.

Section B – outline of the school

All applicants must complete this section in full.

In this section we ask for some details about the school.

You should refer to the relevant local authority specification.

The type of school is a special free school. We understand that there can be similarities between special schools and AP schools (and their cohorts), but we will not accept applications for hybrid schools. By law, special schools may only admit children and young people with or being assessed for EHC plans, while AP is for children of compulsory school age who do not attend mainstream or special schools or who would not otherwise receive suitable education for any reason.

Special free schools cannot be designated as having a religious character. Placements in special schools are determined through the application of the criteria in s39(4) of the Children and Families Act 2014. This states that the school must be suitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs of the child or young person. Religion is not statutory criteria and therefore placements cannot be restricted in this way.

Special free schools can have a religious ethos. You should include a brief explanation (if applicable) of any specialism, particular ethos, distinctive pedagogy, or educational philosophy.

Section C – vision

All applicants should complete this section in full. You must summarise:

a clear vision for how the proposed school will improve outcomes and enhance the life chances of children within the local community
how that vision is reflected in your curriculum approach and approaches to meeting pupils’ needs
how it meets the relevant local authority’s school specification and contributes to delivery of its SEND strategy
how your proposed school will work collaboratively with other SEND provision, mainstream and other education settings, as well as any other local partners, to develop and share expertise and approaches
how your proposed school will prepare pupils for adulthood, including independent living and employment
how your vision is evidence-based and consistent with the rest of your application – your overall application should clearly show the plan for implementing your vision
if your existing schools are in a local authority other than the local authority you are applying in, explain clearly how you will ensure that the new school will be well supported

All applicants should also provide a brief overarching vision for your trust, including:

your planned expansion strategy (including how many schools you plan to have in total, your planned geographical spread and timescales)
a summary of any discussions you have had with the relevant regional directors about your planned expansion strategy

Your response to this section should be no more 1000 words.

Section D – education plan

All applicants must complete this section in full.

In this section, you need to set out the plan to deliver your educational vision. We are looking for an ambitious and deliverable education plan, which is consistent with your vision and pupil intake.

When preparing your education plan you must consider the information on the requirements of free schools and proposer groups.

Where the school includes secondary or post-16 provision, preparation for adult life should feature throughout section D. Schools should seek partnerships with employment services, businesses, housing agencies, disability organisations and arts and sports groups, to help children understand what is available to them as they get older, and what it is possible for them to achieve.

D1 – curriculum plan

Within this section, all applicants will be assessed on the quality of their plans and the extent to which they meet the relevant school specification. We will be looking for an ambitious, affordable, and deliverable curriculum plan, which is consistent with the vision, pupil intake and financial plan.

You should provide a rationale for your proposed approach, which should be supported by published data and research.

In this section, you should:

complete table D1i in the application form showing a list of subjects to be offered with the number of hours spent per week on each (you do not need to provide sample timetables)
provide information on the curriculum, which should be consistent with the vision
if you are planning to teach something other than the national curriculum, set out what you propose instead, your rationale, and how it provides the knowledge and skills that children need
demonstrate that your curriculum will be deliverable and, if applicable, how and to what extent you intend to use resources from your existing school or other organisations to contribute to the delivery of the curriculum or improve teaching capability
offer a broad and balanced curriculum that includes English, mathematics and science – we will also look at how you prepare children for the next stage in their lives
offer appropriate qualifications
demonstrate an ambitious curriculum approach, which takes into account the expected pupil intake and their needs
set out your approach to teaching and learning – specifically, how this will ensure the curriculum is delivered in a robust and effective manner, meeting the needs of the expected intake
provide evidence that you will ensure safeguarding, good behaviour and good attendance and that any health needs will be met

If you already have at least one open state-funded or independent special school of the same phase and type that you are proposing, your application should include:

details of the pupil intake at your existing school and any differences with the expected intake at the new school including:
- looked after children
- pupils requiring literacy and numeracy intervention, including those with EAL who are at the early stages of learning English
- pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those that attract the pupil premium
an evidence-based rationale for any changes to the approach you will take in your new school, including to the curriculum, approach to teaching and learning, extra-curricular offer or behaviour management – if you do not plan to make any changes you should set out your rationale for how this will be sufficient to meet the needs for your new school cohort
how any changes you propose to make will be deliverable – if relevant, you should show how you intend to use resources from an existing school, college or university to contribute to the delivery of the curriculum, improve teaching capability or help students secure high-quality university places

If you have multiple strong schools of the same phase and type as the new school you are proposing, you can compare the intake of the new school with one of your existing schools or the whole cohort of your trust.

We will assess the quality of your plans based on a combination of your track record and the evidence you provide against the criteria.

Your response to this section should be no more than 2500 words, excluding tables.

D2 – measuring pupil performance effectively and setting challenging expectations

In this section, you should summarise:

the types of need for the expected cohort and how you will establish a baseline of students’ current level of attainment (including external validation of this)
your explicit, ambitious and realistic expectations for pupil performance, behaviour and attendance, explaining why they are suitable to measure the delivery of your education vision, and putting in place an assessment system that will allow pupil performance and progress to be measured and improved
the strategies you will put in place to support pupils to be successful when they enter and leave the school
how you will review success measures and expectations regularly to improve the school’s performance and the role of the MAT in doing so, where relevant
how you will involve parents and report progress to them
how you will share this information regularly and effectively with the local authority, and how this will ensure:
- appropriate provision is made for each pupil
- successful progression into employment, further education or training

If you already have at least one open state-funded or independent special school of the same phase and type that you are proposing, your application should include any changes to the way in which you will:

measure pupil performance
set challenging expectations for pupil performance, behaviour and attendance

If you do not plan to make any changes you should set out how your existing approach will meet the needs of your new school cohort.

Your response to this section should be no more than 2300 words.

D3 – staffing

You must ensure that your staffing structure:

matches your proposed curriculum
complies with the statutory responsibilities of a special state school, including on child protection
includes an appropriate balance of roles, experience and expertise across the senior leadership team, middle managers, subject leaders, teachers and support staff
will meet the requirements to achieve an Ofsted judgement good or outstanding
can be delivered within your expected income

In this section, you should summarise:

your plans for an affordable staffing structure, which takes account of your curriculum plan
your planned strategy for successfully recruiting high-quality staff (if you run existing schools, include whether you intend to use existing staff in the new school and how this will work in practice)
your plan for teacher retention, for example:
how you will regularly review key financial health and efficiency metrics (including teacher contact ratio, average class size and average teacher cost) to plan staffing and timetabling that will deliver an affordable curriculum
the actions you would take to reduce costs (if and when necessary), the reasons for these actions and the reason you have prioritised the actions as you have
how your amended plans would continue to support delivery of your education vision and plan and any changes you would have to make to the education plan

If you do not currently run an open state funded special school of the same phase and type that you are proposing, you must demonstrate that at full capacity your staffing structure is sufficient to deliver the curriculum plan, consistent with the information provided in the financial template.

If you have any existing special schools of the same phase that you are proposing, either state-funded or independent, you must set out if you intend to use any of your existing staff in this school and how this will work in practice.

Your response to this section should be no longer than 1000 words, excluding any organograms or staffing charts you wish to provide.

D4 – integration and community cohesion

All applications must meet our integration and community cohesion objectives, with a view to ensuring all children and young people are able to participate fully in life in modern Britain.

You should summarise:

how the school will build opportunities for pupils to interact and build positive relationships with those from different backgrounds, both within the school and the wider local community
how the school will equip pupils with the skills, values and knowledge to become active citizens in wider society and play a positive role in shaping cohesive and integrated communities
how the school will be welcoming to pupils of all faiths and none, and show how the school will address the needs of all pupils and parents
how the school will promote fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
how the curriculum will be broad and balanced and prepare children for life in modern Britain including through the teaching of spiritual, moral, social and cultural education
how the school will:
- teach personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE)
- adhere to the Prevent Duty
- have appropriate policies on safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children
how the school will develop its students with the skills to support them to lead healthy lives
how the school will prepare pupils for adult life, so they can progress into employment, independent living, community participation and good health

When assessing the information you provide in this part of your application, we will consider the potential impact on integration and community cohesion and the intake of neighbouring schools.

There are a number of ways you may wish to demonstrate your commitment to integration and community cohesion. The strongest applications are likely to include programmes or activities aimed at helping pupils to value differences and challenge prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping and intolerance of others, and to understand the diversity of their communities and wider society.

We will consider the extent to which the additional activities you propose will be effective and appropriate to the local context of the school.

We will not approve any application where we have any concerns about:

a lack of genuine commitment to the inclusion of pupils of all faiths or no faith in the school
creationism being taught as a valid scientific theory or about schools failing to teach evolution adequately as part of their science curriculum
any member of the applicant group holding extremist beliefs, as defined in the Prevent Duty guidance

Your response to this section should be no longer than 1000 words.

Section E – capacity and capability

In this section, you must demonstrate the capacity and capability to deliver a financially viable school that will provide a high-quality and inclusive education within a strong trust.

Checks are conducted on all applicants. We will use the personal information you provide to check your suitability to set up a free school.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the necessary experience and credentials within your group to deliver the school to opening and an effective governance structure. If you already run an open school, you will all also need to demonstrate a strong educational track record.

In the Schools White Paper, we published 5 pillars of quality for MATs. These are:

high quality and inclusive education
school improvement
workforce
finance and operations
governance and leadership

In April 2023, we published detailed descriptions of quality against each pillar. The descriptions represent a clear and ambitious vision for the academies sector and will help to inform trusts’ improvement and capacity building priorities.

If you run an existing trust, we will use the information in your application alongside the information held by the department to assess the strength of your trust, taking into account the length of time your trust has been established.

If you will be establishing a new trust, we will assess your capacity and capability to establish a strong trust.

We will shortly be publishing more information about how regional directors make decisions in new commissioning guidance.

E1 – strong educational track record

If you do not currently run or lead state-funded schools, you must complete section E1.

If you currently run or lead state-funded schools, you do not need to provide any information for section E1 as we will use information we hold and publicly available data about the schools in your trust to make a judgement on your educational track record. This includes schools that you have recently taken over or opened.

However, you should provide additional information that you believe will help us to better understand the track record of your group – for example, if you have recently taken on an underperforming school.

All groups who currently run or lead schools will need to have a strong educational track record to apply to open a free school. This generally means:

any existing schools that you run have a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ judgement from Ofsted or another appropriate inspectorate for independent schools
there are no significant outstanding issues on compliance in your most recent inspection report, where appropriate, and any additional inspections requested result in standards being met

We will take into account the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when assessing your educational track record. You can provide any specific information on the impact of COVID-19 on the educational performance of your schools.

If you choose to provide additional information in this section, your response should be no more than 500 words.

E2 – the necessary experience and credentials to deliver the school to opening

Within this section, we will assess whether you have access to appropriate educational, financial and other expertise to ensure that the school opens successfully.

Your application will be rated more highly if:

your core applicant group includes individuals with appropriate education and finance expertise
you have individuals with expertise in most of the additional areas (managing state school finances, leadership, project management, marketing, human resources, safeguarding and health and safety), form part of your core applicant group, and they have a strong track record in their areas of expertise
you already have individuals in your core applicant group who would make strong trustees once the school is open, or who are currently strong trustees or governors at an existing school
you show a clear understanding of the skills and capacity required to run a successful special school and have secured sufficient and realistic time commitments from each individual

You will be assessed on the quality of your plans to fill the gaps identified and, where applicable, the track record of any individuals you have identified to fill those gaps.

You do not need to tell us how you will establish the school’s local governing body.

We will refer to the growth plans for your trust set out in section C, along with the performance of any schools that individuals are associated with to assess whether you have the required capability and capacity to open a successful new special free school.

In section E2, you must:

complete table E2(a) with information about each individual who is part of your group, including:
- all members and trustees of your academy trust
- members of the executive team
- members of the pre-opening team
- anyone else providing a relevant contribution
demonstrate that you have access to individuals with strong, relevant state education expertise and state school finance expertise with specific and sufficient time commitments
demonstrate that you have access to individuals with specific and sufficient time commitments and relevant experience in as many of the following areas as possible:
- SEND provision
- managing school finances
- leadership
- project management
- marketing
- human resources
- safeguarding and health and safety
use box E2(b) to further describe the skills and experience of your group, and to describe plans to manage the pre-opening project
conduct a skills gap analysis of your pre-opening group (including your existing governors or trustees if you already run one or more schools, as they will be in place during pre-opening) and complete table E2(c) - you will need to set out how you plan to fill those gaps
set out your plans and timeline for recruiting a principal designate and executive head (if you intend to have one) in box E2(c)

Your response to this section should be no longer than 2000 words, not including box E2(c).

E3 – an effective governance structure

When completing this section you should refer to the Academy Trust Handbook and the Governance Handbook, which outlines the features of effective governance that you should consider when formulating your governance arrangements.

If you are not currently operating as a MAT, your application should include:

a scheme of delegation showing your proposed governance structure, including lines of accountability between the members, trustees, any local governing bodies or committees and the school’s senior leadership team – if you want to provide a diagram of your trust’s proposed governance structure then you should submit it as an annex to the application form
a brief but credible explanation of the roles and responsibilities of the trust’s members, the trustees, the executive team, any proposed committees and the principal
a strategy for avoiding and minimising conflicts of interest and for securing independent challenge to members and trustees
declare any financial transactions that are likely to take place between any member or trustee (or a connected party or business) and the academy, the nature of the transaction(s) and provide assurance that they will comply with the ‘at cost’ principles set out in the Academies Financial Handbook
show how the requirements of the governing board will not result in unnecessary and onerous workload for the headteacher and all staff members, and how you will set up proportionate, streamlined and effective processes for reporting
if applicable, set out a clear plan to appoint and train any high-quality individuals needed to fill gaps in the governance structure, particularly those with education, school governance, and finance expertise
if you are a local authority maintained school or a group of maintained schools you should describe how your governance will work once you have established your academy trust

If you are currently a MAT, we will look at the effectiveness of your existing governance. Your application should:

say how the new school will fit within the current structure of your MAT
briefly describe any specific conflicts of interest and explain how you intend to manage them
declare any financial transactions that are likely to take place between any member or trustee (or a connected party or business) and the academy, the nature of the transactions and provide assurance that they will comply with the ‘at cost’ principles set out in the Academies Financial Handbook
show how the requirements of the governing board will not result in unnecessary workload for the headteacher and all staff members, and how you will set up effective processes for reporting

Your response to this section should be no more than 1500 words. This should be shorter for MATs that have recently discussed their governance structure with their regional director.

Section F – financial viability

Special free schools’ continuing financial viability will depend on local authorities continuing to place children and young people with EHC plans in those schools, with the procedures for that (including the relevance of parental preference) being set out in law. It is important that the school offers the type of places set out in the local authority specification, and within the funding available from the relevant local authority.

If you have not opened a free school of the same type and phase before September 2021, you must complete the financial template provided with your application pack. The financial template is not tailored to each local authority. This means that you will need to fill in the place numbers, top-up funding rates, and build-up of places over time by copying these details from the key elements of the specification.

Trusts should implement effective resource planning to ensure every pound is used efficiently to improve education standards and have maximum impact on the pupils and the school. Schools that do this well tend to:

base their financial planning on delivering educational outcomes, rather than as a separate bolt-on consideration
have a strategic financial plan for the longer term (3 to 5 years)
deploy their staff effectively and efficiently, linked to their long-term plan
have robust challenge from financially skilled governors and headteachers
have skilled staff responsible for managing finances
have transparent financial systems and processes that encourage constructive challenge within and between schools

Before you begin to develop and complete your plans, you should read:

the overview of free school funding in annex E and in the special free school revenue funding guide
the guidance and tools on efficiency and financial health
schools financial efficiency: top 10 planning checks for governors

The school must not be dependent on borrowing or nursery income to deliver a viable school and break even in any year.

Where third-party funding is provided, you should state clearly what it will fund and the impact on the school and its education model if that funding stopped.

We may request additional information about third-party funding if it forms part of your financial plan. You may provide other evidence of third-party funding, such as letters, as annexes if you think this would support your application.

Even if you are an experienced education provider, the financial plan can help us assess your understanding of managing a state school’s finances and the financial challenges associated with opening a new school. If you currently run or lead any open schools, we will take into account the financial health of the trust as part of our overall assessment.

In some cases, we may ask you to resubmit your financial plans ahead of the interview if we are unclear on any aspect of this section of your application.

If you have opened a free school of the same type and phase before September 2021

We will use the information we already hold about the financial situation of your schools, including pupil recruitment numbers. You do not need to provide additional information unless there is something specific that you believe will help us to understand the financial health of your trust.

You do not need to complete the financial template at this stage. If you are invited to interview, we may ask you to provide further financial information, including the template, particularly if your existing school or the one you are proposing is small.

If you have not opened a free school of the same type and phase before 2021

You must:

complete the Excel financial template showing income and planned expenditure and the assumptions made about each line in the space provided - you should explain clearly what your assumptions are based on and the evidence that demonstrates that your assumptions are realistic and appropriate
make sure that the information in your plan is consistent with the other parts of your application, for example, the curriculum offer, staffing structure, and pupil numbers in the education plan should accord with the financial plan
show that you have allowed for unforeseen problems and contingencies
not show a cumulative deficit in any year - any in-year deficits must be planned for by accumulating a surplus in previous years
use box F in the application form to add any further commentary on areas you wish to highlight

We will also assess the quality of your financial plan by the extent to which it is reasonable, represents good value for money and is prudent. We will consider:

core operating income and expenditure assumptions (it is vital that these are included in the plan)
benchmarking information for income and expenditure, including for nursery provision where applicable (this information should also be entered in the assumptions and rationale column)
any centrally-provided services and their costs
the proportion of spend allocated to each budget area – particularly to staffing
staff to pupil ratios
the context of the local area, such as the percentage of children eligible for free school meals
whether the funding will be sufficient to deliver the school’s particular education offer, for example, specialist teachers and equipment

Question 5

Checks on applicants

Accepted Answer

The Secretary of State for Education will only allow suitable persons to establish publicly funded free schools.

Proposers must abide by the 7 principles of public life, which set out the standards of behaviour we expect.

We will undertake due diligence checks on proposers as part of the selection process, including social media and internet searches. We may also ask you questions at the interview about the 7 principles of public life. The Secretary of State may reject applications where the previous conduct of individuals associated with the trust does not comply with the 7 principles of public life.

The Secretary of State will reject applications put forward by organisations that advocate violence, extremism, or other illegal activities.

We will also complete credit checks on individuals to ensure the suitability of proposers to set up and run free schools. We will share personal information provided as part of the application process with third parties for the purpose of these checks.

We need a suitability and declarations form for each individual member and trustee of the academy trust regardless of whether they have previously submitted this form. If the head of finance, chair or CEO is not a member or trustee we also require their completed suitability and declarations forms.

If you are applying for more than one school, but the individuals involved in establishing the schools are the same, you only need to send the forms once, stating which schools they apply to in your form.

You should email scanned copies of signed suitability and declarations forms and a passport-sized photograph attached to each applicant’s form to due.diligence@education.gov.uk and FS.Applications@education.gov.uk. The email should include the names of the proposed schools and state the application reference number in the email subject title.

If you are successful at assessment stage the chair of trustees must apply for an enhanced DBS certificate via DfE during the pre-opening phase. The Secretary of State will counter sign the DBS certificate.

All other members and trustees must obtain an enhanced DBS certificate. It is the responsibility of the chair of trustees to ensure that all members and trustees have a valid enhanced DBS certificate (issued in the last 2 years).

Question 6

Annex A: technical and legal considerations for proposer groups

Accepted Answer

Setting up an academy trust

Each free school is run by an academy trust formed specifically to establish and run one or more schools. The academy trust is the body that submits the application to open the free school and that the Secretary of State decides to enter into a funding agreement with.

If you are a new proposer and need to establish an academy trust, you must do so before you apply using the model articles of association. Information on how to set up a company is available from Companies House. Additional guidance is available from Create: Schools.

If you currently lead one or more maintained schools, we expect your existing maintained school or schools to convert to academy status. You must form a MAT that will incorporate both the new free school and your existing schools. You do not need to convert to academy status before applying, but we expect your application to set out your plans for how you will do this if your application is successful.

Third parties

You may appoint a third party, through an open and competitive tender process, to support you in developing your application. However, you must not enter into any contracts in the expectation of public funds.

If any individuals or organisations that are not part of your trust have assisted you in writing your application, you should explain how you will secure further support during the pre-opening phase if you are approved.

Public Sector Equality Duty

All free schools are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty, which forms part of the Equality Act 2010. This duty requires your trustees, both in planning and running a school, to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity and develop good relations between communities.

We will look for evidence that you have considered these responsibilities in your application. You should consult the guidance for schools on the Equality Act.

Question 7

Annex B: requirements for special free schools

Accepted Answer

As free schools are legally academies, they have more freedom and control over some things. However, there are some requirements and obligations that all free schools must follow once open.

See the pre-opening guidance for more information.

Special free schools

Special free schools provide education for pupils with SEND. They are designated for specific types of SEND.

For this competition we are only accepting applications to open special free schools in response to published specifications from local authorities listed in Annex A.

Once a school is open, approval from the Secretary of State is required if the school wishes to change or extend its designation to cater for children with other types of SEND.

Special schools do not admit pupils on the basis of the School Admissions Code. Generally they are permitted only to admit pupils with EHC plans, or, on a temporary basis, pupils whose needs are being assessed (as set out in section 34 (5)-(8) of the Children and Families Act 2014). See paragraph 1.29 of the SEND code of practice for more information.

Exceptionally, special schools may ask for permission to admit pupils with special educational needs but without an EHC plan (section 34 (9) of the Children and Families Act). If you wish to seek this permission you will need to provide evidence that the school will be “innovative and increase access to specialist provision for children and young people without EHC plans” (SEND code of practice, paragraph 1.30).

Paragraph 1.26 of the SEND code of practice sets out the general presumption that children with SEND should be educated in mainstream settings. Consider including information about how you would ensure, where appropriate, the reintegration of pupils with SEND but without EHC plans into mainstream schooling as part of your application.

Special free schools must:

Free school applications should demonstrate how they will promote fundamental British values across a range of subjects as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. The application should demonstrate how pupils will develop and demonstrate skills and attitudes that will allow them to participate fully in and contribute positively to life in modern Britain.

We will look for evidence that you have considered these responsibilities as part of your application. See the guidance on promoting fundamental British values as part of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development for more information.

Special free schools do not have to:

follow the national curriculum
follow local authority term dates or standard school hours
comply with the guidance on school teachers’ pay and conditions

Safeguarding

Schools and their staff form part of the wider safeguarding system for children. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. School staff are particularly important, as they are in a position to identify concerns early and provide help for children to prevent concerns escalating.

It is vitally important that as an academy trust you fully understand your responsibilities for safeguarding the children in your care. Read:

When the school opens we expect it to meet the requirements set out in keeping children safe in education.

Performance and accountability

All state-funded schools, including free schools, are held to account against the same performance measures. You should consider the accountability measures that would apply to the school.

All schools must collect performance data and publish results. Details about what will be published in the performance tables can be found in the statements of intent.

All state-funded schools, including 16 to 19 free schools, are inspected under the common inspection framework: education, skills and early years. Pre-16 free schools are inspected under the Ofsted schools handbook and 16 to 19 free schools are inspected under the further education and skills inspection handbook.

Special free schools with a faith ethos

Like special schools in the maintained sector, special free schools cannot be designated as having a religious character.

If you want the school to reflect a distinct ethos aligned with a particular religion, you can register that the school has a religious ethos. The ethos could then be reflected within the vision for the school, the values the school represents, and the importance placed on particular beliefs.

We will expect you to be able to explain clearly how your faith ethos will (or will not) manifest itself in and influence the curriculum, school policies and the look and feel of the school. We will also expect you to be able to demonstrate that you have made this clear to parents and pupils.

Question 8

Annex C: overview of free school funding

Accepted Answer

Pre-opening funding

Details on the pre-opening phase and the project development grant can be found in the free schools pre-opening guide.

Revenue funding for special schools

Special free schools’ funding comprises 2 elements:

place funding received directly from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)
top-up funding from the commissioning local authority or authorities where funding above the place funding is required^{[footnote 2]}

Special schools can also receive income from specialist services provided to other schools or local authorities under a service level agreement.

Special free schools receive £10,000 per FTE place, per year, for children and young people up to the age of 19 years with EHC plans. Place funding for the first year is determined by the free school’s agreed financial plans and information from the commissioning local authorities.

Special free schools’ continuing financial viability depends on local authorities continuing to place children and young people with EHC plans in those schools, with the procedures for that (including the relevance of parental preference) being set out in law. It is important that the school proposers offer the type of places that local authorities need, at a cost they are prepared to fund.

Local authorities decide how many places a special free school will be funded for in the upcoming year from the school’s second year of opening, in discussion with the school. ESFA will pay the funding directly to the free school, with the equivalent amounts deducted from the local authority’s dedicated schools grant (DSG).

In addition, special free schools receive top-up funding. The specific rate of top-up funding is detailed in each local authority’s specification document.

See the guidance on high needs funding arrangements for more information.

Question 9

Annex D: how we use your personal data

Accepted Answer

The Department for Education will become the data controller for personal information collected on the:

pre-application registration form
Word and Excel application forms
suitability and declarations form
any additional information supplied in annexes

We are responsible for ensuring that this information is processed in accordance with the requirements of data protection legislation. Any third parties processing personal information on behalf of the Department for Education will be acting as its data processors.

How we will use your information

Personal data is collected so we can consider the application to set up a free school.

The nature of your personal data we will be using

The categories of your personal data that we will be using for this project are:

names
date of birth
current and previous positions and job titles
companies and organisations
contact details (work postal address, email address and phone number)

We may also process special category data if declared under section 5 of the suitability and declarations form or when undertaking due diligence checks on applications. This may include information relating to:

character declarations, including details of unspent convictions, motoring offences, police cautions, insolvency and bankruptcy
health declarations
any orders made against you in relation to working with vulnerable individuals
addresses for the last 5 years
passport details
driving licence details

Why our use of your personal data is lawful

For the purpose of this project, the relevant conditions we are meeting are:

Article 6 (1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
Article 9 (2)(g) GDPR

Our processing of personal and special category data is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of our functions as a government department.

Publication

We will publish a full list of the applications we receive. This will include the proposed school’s name, local authority, type of school, phase and faith ethos.

If your application to set up a new school is successful, we may also publish the application form. The following information will be redacted from the application and will not be visible to the public:

private addresses
private email addresses
private telephone numbers
commercially sensitive information
specific site locations
CVs

All other information, including the names of individuals and organisations mentioned in the application, may be published.

Notify any individuals or organisations that you have named in your bid that their information will be processed by DfE during the assessment stage.

Who we will make your personal data available to

We sometimes need to make personal data available to other organisations. These might include contracted partners (who we have employed to process your personal data on our behalf) or other organisations (with whom we need to share your personal data for specific purposes).

Where we need to share your personal data with others, we ensure that this data sharing complies with data protection legislation. For this project:

external education advisors and independent panel members will view your personal data as part of the decision-making process
we will share personal data with advisory board members as part of the decision-making process
we will share your personal information with third parties to conduct checks on your suitability to run a free school

How long we will keep your personal data

We will only keep your personal data for as long as we need it for this piece of work. After this it will be securely destroyed. We estimate that we will keep your personal data for no longer than 10 years.

Under data protection legislation, and in compliance with the relevant data processing conditions, we can lawfully keep personal data processed purely for research and statistical purposes indefinitely.

Your data protection rights

Under certain circumstances, you have the right to:

ask us for access to information about you that we hold
have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
restrict our processing of your personal data (such as permitting its storage but no further processing)
object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics
not be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you

You have the right to raise any concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office via their website at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Contact

If you have any questions about how we will use your personal information, contact us and enter ‘special free schools’ as the reference. For the Data Protection Officer (DPO), mark it for the attention of the ‘DPO’.

Details about what we publish in the performance tables is in the statement of intent on school and college performance tables. ↩
For this competition, top-up funding rates are specified in the local authority specification. ↩

Cookies on GOV.UK

Applies to England

Introduction

Who can apply

Applying as a single academy trust

Applying as a new provider

Application process

Key dates

Register your interest

Preparing your application

Completing your application

Identifying a site for the school

Submitting your application

Assessment of your application

If your application is successful

Funding agreement and opening the school

Assessment criteria

Section A – tell us who you are

Section B – outline of the school

Section C – vision

Section D – education plan

D1 – curriculum plan

D2 – measuring pupil performance effectively and setting challenging expectations

D3 – staffing

D4 – integration and community cohesion

Section E – capacity and capability

E1 – strong educational track record

E2 – the necessary experience and credentials to deliver the school to opening

E3 – an effective governance structure

Section F – financial viability

If you have opened a free school of the same type and phase before September 2021

If you have not opened a free school of the same type and phase before 2021

Checks on applicants

Annex A: technical and legal considerations for proposer groups

Setting up an academy trust

Third parties

Public Sector Equality Duty

Annex B: requirements for special free schools

Special free schools

Safeguarding

Performance and accountability

Special free schools with a faith ethos

Annex C: overview of free school funding

Pre-opening funding

Revenue funding for special schools

Annex D: how we use your personal data

How we will use your information

The nature of your personal data we will be using

Why our use of your personal data is lawful

Publication

Who we will make your personal data available to

How long we will keep your personal data

Your data protection rights

Contact

Is this page useful?

Help us improve GOV.UK

Help us improve GOV.UK