Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department’s news story Drive to create more good school places for families published on 11 May 2018, how many additional school places the Selective Schools Expansion Fund is forecast to create in each of the next four years.

The Department announced the £50 million capital funding to support the expansion of selective schools for 2018/19. This is a new fund, so it will not be possible to provide an accurate forecast of the number of additional places to be provided in 2018/19 until the bidding round closes on 19 July 2018, when the Department can analyse the bids received. Broadly, based on the average per-place cost of previous expansions funded via the Condition Improvement Fund, £50 million could fund up to 4,000 places.

The Department will consider the need for further investment in the expansion of selective schools beyond 2018/19 in due course.