WIREDGOV

Following a competitive bidding process, the Department for Education has approved grant funding for New Schools Network (NSN) to provide pre-application support to parents, teachers and community groups and others hoping to open Free Schools. NSN is a registered charity.

The grant will be a maximum of £400,000 for the remainder of this financial year (2011-12), and a maximum of £650,000 in 2012-13. There is an option to extend the grant for one year beyond this.

The grant is expected to commence on 1 November 2011, subject to final negotiations on the grant agreement. This will be published in due course.

The grant was awarded after a rigorous bid assessment conducted by senior Department for Education officials and an independent official from outside the Department.

Some 40 groups requested information about how to bid for the grant, with two applications being made. NSN was judged to have submitted the strongest bid by a clear margin.

You can download the letter from the Department, informing NSN of their successful bid, from this page.

You can also download letters from the Permanent Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary to Andy Burnham MP from this page. These letters set out how NSN’s previous grant was awarded.