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The Department has today updated the information on Free School groups that applied in the first round of applications.

• Of the 323 proposals received, 41 were approved to move to business case and plan stage or beyond, although one proposal was subsequently withdrawn by the proposer.
• 30 of the remaining 40 proposals, including a number that aim to open in September 2012 or beyond, have now been approved to move to the pre-opening stage.
• Since the last update, four more projects have signed funding agreements. This takes the total number of projects that have entered into a funding agreement to 13. More will be listed in due course.
• Eight proposals that were in business case and plan stage, for schools opening in September 2012 or beyond, were invited to apply through the new application process. This closed in June.

Further information

In the second round of applications to open Free Schools from 2012, there were 281 applications from groups who want to set up schools, and 37 applications for new University Technical Colleges. You can read the press notice and the Secretary of State’s speech to Policy Exchange on the In the News section of this website. Successful applications will be announced in September.

There is more information about Free Schools, including interviews with proposers, in the Free Schools section of the Department's website.