Free school numbers to rise by 55, government reveals
Fifty-five new free schools are opening this month, tripling the number in place across England, ministers say.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said he hoped the schools would be as successful as the 24 existing ones.
Free schools - a flagship government policy - are state-funded but not under local authority control and have more control over teaching and budgets.
Labour has criticised the amount of public money spent on projects that have faced delays or been abandoned.
Free schools can be set up by groups of parents, teachers, charities, businesses, universities, trusts, religious or voluntary groups.
The first ones opened last September and, in announcing the opening of 55 more this month, the Department for Education said a further 114 had been approved to open from next year.
Mr Gove said: "Every child should have the choice to go to an excellent local school. These new schools have been set up by idealistic people who are determined to give parents the kind of choice that only the rich can currently afford.
"The first 24 free schools are enormously popular and I expect this second wave to be equally successful."
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... (BBC News - 3 September)