An analysis of Michael Gove’s flagship project finds that the free schools programme has increased social segregation and suggests that it has led to a decline in pupil numbers at neighbouring schools.
The establishment of free schools was hailed as a major success of the 14-year Conservative government, designed to provide high-quality facilities and improve parental choice. Part of their stated aim was to put pressure on surrounding schools to improve and have a “galvanising effect on the whole school system”.
New research results related to the observer suggests that enrollment in a free school was associated with increased segregation of primary school pupils, particularly in terms of their ethnicity. The study by researchers at University College London also found that the presence of a free school was not associated with a significant improvement in pupils’ performance in nearby primary schools.
In England, the trend is towards reducing segregation in schools, but in areas where free primary schools have opened, the opposite trend has been observed. Researchers have attributed this to some free schools offering a more homogenous student body than their local area, due both to ‘self-segregation’ by ethnic minority parents and to perceived ‘white flight’.
Free schools also affected student enrolment numbers in surrounding schools. Primary schools near a free school saw a decline in year one enrolments. Secondary schools saw a slightly larger and more consistent decline of 4.5% in year seven pupils over a six-year period. Some headteachers have raised this as a problem, as schools receive most of their funding based on the total number of pupils attending them.
One primary school head said the free school had “impacted numbers… we had less income. That had a significant impact on the curriculum we could offer.” Schools in deprived areas also reported an increase in the number of pupils requiring “huge amounts of resources,” which could be linked to the free schools taking on more pupils who did not need them. Several headteachers predicted their “perfectly good school” would close.
Free schools were part of Gove’s education reforms under the coalition government. The scheme allowed any group of teachers, parents or charities to set up a school, regardless of whether the local authority saw a need for it or not. More than 650 schools are now open.
Although pupils’ performance in English and mathematics at nearby secondary schools showed slight improvements after the opening of an independent school, there was also evidence that this was linked to the attraction of more disadvantaged pupils. Secondary schools that admitted significantly more disadvantaged pupils showed no improvement after the opening of a nearby independent school.
The UCL study of free schools found that despite claims that they set high standards, this was not the case. Free primary schools performed worse than a comparable sample of similar schools, while free secondary schools performed neither better nor worse.
Heads of schools in the area said they felt in competition with each other, which led them to work more on their advertising and publicity rather than improving the quality of their teaching. Competition was felt most strongly where independent schools appealed to upwardly mobile or middle-class families who had a “quasi-private school ethos”.
“Our findings show that the introduction of free schools has often led to new competition,” said Rob Higham, associate professor at UCL’s Institute of Education and lead author of the study. “Under these new market pressures, neighbouring schools have rarely prioritised change or innovation in teaching practice.”
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“Not all independent schools offer such choice and competition, but where they exist, there is the potential to reinforce the social divisions of the school system, including the social segregation of students.”
Researchers found that nearby schools were more likely to become unstable if they were located in a deprived area, lost pupils to a free school, or were downgraded to less than ‘good’ by Ofsted shortly before or after a free school opened. They said this could trigger a “cycle of decline” that further concentrates disadvantaged pupils in certain schools and necessitates cuts.
The report comes ahead of this week’s GCSE results, which some experts say may be worse due to Covid-related school closures. Last week’s A-level results saw record highs in the number of A* and A grades awarded. In maths, 42% of 18-year-olds in England achieved A* or As.
The Department for Education said: “Ensuring that all schools are inclusive places so that every child gets the best possible start in life is at the heart of our mission to break down the barriers to equality of opportunity. The Child Welfare Bill will introduce a number of changes to ensure children are safe, healthy, happy and treated fairly. These include measures requiring state schools to work with local authorities on school admissions, promoting inclusion and ensuring that admissions decisions take into account the needs of communities.”
