Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will bring forward proposals to require all new free schools to offer a design and technology GCSE; and if he will make a statement.
Free schools, as academies, have the freedom to choose their own curriculum, provided that it meets the requirements of its funding agreement – for example that the curriculum is broad and balanced and includes English, mathematics, science and religious education. It is ultimately for schools to decide whether to offer a particular qualification, such as the recently reformed design and technology GCSE.