Free Schools: Walsall
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99790 on Free Schools, what steps her Department is taking to assess the (a) need for places and (b) value for money of the Swift Academy; and if she will publish that assessment.
Answered by Josh MacAlister
The criteria for the mainstream free schools pipeline review were set out in the Written Ministerial Statement laid on 22 October 2024. The department assessed the local need for school places, value for money and whether projects would provide a distinctive local offer or risk negatively impacting other local schools.
The department has offered feedback to local authorities, trusts and MPs with a related pipeline free school project.
We keep all pipeline projects under review to ensure that they meet a need for places and represent value for public money. This includes the use of annually published pupil place planning data, which informs ministerial decision‑making.
In 2016, the previous government ran a central free school programme application wave, which was open to all trusts to submit proposals for new free schools. All applications received were assessed against the published selection criteria in the How To Apply Guidance.
Local consultation is also undertaken prior to the opening of any new free school, enabling residents and other interested parties to provide their views on the proposal.
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