Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new school places his Department estimates will be created by the free schools programme in the (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21 academic years.

The department is committed to a free schools programme that aims to deliver choice, innovation and higher standards for parents. In 2018-19, we have opened 54 free schools, creating over 40,000 new school places, with a further 4 forecast to open before the end of the academic year. In total, there are 443 free schools open across the country, which will provide over 250,000 places when at capacity.

Information on all open free schools, including their location and self-reported capacity figures, can be found at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.

In addition to this, the department has approved a further 263 free school applications and is working with proposers to identify suitable opening dates. The department is looking to announce the next wave of free school openers in September.

The department publishes a list of all approved free school applications, including the local authority and region in which they are located. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-successful-applications.