Chancellor to announce investment in new free schools

Wednesday’s Budget could lead to the creation of up to 7,000 school places in 140 free schools following the expected announcement of a £320 million cash injection in the UK education sector.This would add to the total of 500 new schools that are already planned for by 2020. Free schools can be set up by groups of parents, teachers, charities, businesses, universities, trusts, religious or voluntary groups, and are funded directly by central government.Prime Minister Theresa May has controversially pledged to end the current ban on new grammar schools, which could pave the way for these new schools to select their pupils on ability.The announcement coincides with Relocate's new International Guide to Education & Schools, available soon!

An end to selection by income

Mrs May has made it her personal mission to put an end to selection by income. “If we are to give our children and grandchildren a fair chance to succeed in an ever more competitive world, we have to build a future where every child can access a good school place,” she said.“That means decisively shifting Britain's education system and building a great meritocracy so that children from ordinary working families are given the chances their richer contemporaries take for granted.”The million-pound investment is said to be part of “the biggest overhaul of post-16 education in 70 years,” through the development of new technical versions of A Levels.

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Investment in existing schools

The Chancellor is also expected to announce a further investment of £216 million to refurbish and rebuild existing schools, and will unveils plans for free transport for children from poorer families attending a grammar school within a 15-mile radius.Mrs May said that a Schools White Paper containing plans to abolish the ban on new grammar schools will be published within weeks.Teaching groups quickly responded, asking why the money wasn’t going to existing state schools. Recent reports of a “funding crisis” in schools have predicted a future of bigger classes, limited resources and fewer teachers.Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said, “These spending pledges are totally insufficient to tackle the schools funding crisis the government is inflicting on schools by forcing them to make over £3 billion of savings by 2020.”Liberal Democrat education spokesman John Pugh said the Tories had their “priorities wrong” on education. He believed that it was “unbelievable” to invest more money when the “free schools programme was shown to have overspent to the tune of £9 billion”.However, Philip Hammond insisted that the core schools budget – more than £40 billion a year – would be protected. “Investing in education and skills is the single most important thing we can do to equip our children for the future,” he said.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory  Get access to our free Global Mobility Toolkit