• Responses to Freedom of Information requests reveal that 83 per cent of David Cameron’s flagship Free Schools that opened this year had not filled all their places at the start of term.
• Only seven of the new mainstream secondary Free Schools were full on opening, and just two of the new mainstream primary Free Schools had all the pupils they planned for. Overall, more than one quarter of the new Free Schools that did not fill all their places at the start of term had less than half the number of children they said they would admit.
• This includes:
  • Discovery School in Newcastle upon Tyne, which opened with one third of the number of pupils it planned for (120 out of 360);
  • Harris Academy Tottenham, which opened with 58 pupils of its 240 planned admission number;
  • The Gatwick School in West Sussex, which had 48 out of 180 of its planned admissions number at the start of term;
  • Park Community School in Merton, which opened with 15 out of the 60 planned for pupils; and
  • Trinity Academy in Lambeth, which admitted just 15 of the 120 pupils it planned to admit.

• Free Schools receive funding based on their planned admission number. That means this batch of Free Schools alone is receiving funding for over 2,500 pupils that were actually empty places at the start of term.

Tristram Hunt MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:

“David Cameron has created a crisis in school places, diverting millions away from children in areas with a shortage of school places in order to open pet project Free Schools in areas where there are already enough places. This is affecting standards in schools, with class sizes soaring, pupils being taught in makeshift temporary classrooms, and children having to travel further and further to get to school.

“Unlike David Cameron, Labour has the right priorities for driving up school standards. We will prioritise new school places in areas where there are shortages, have rigorous local oversight of schools and ensure that all teachers have or are working towards qualified teacher status.”