Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new school places have been created in free schools rated inadequate by Ofsted in each year for which data is available; and how many free schools have been closed by her Department due to an inadequate rating by Ofsted.

There are now 345 free schools across the country. When at full capacity, they will provide over 180,000 new school places. Over a quarter of free schools inspected so far by Ofsted have been rated outstanding compared to just over a fifth of all state schools.

The table below provides the total capacity (as set out in funding agreements available at https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/) of the schools judged to be inadequate by Ofsted at the end of each academic year since inspections began. The majority of the schools were in the process of building up to their full capacity at the point of inspection. The Department intervenes promptly when poor standards are identified and has closed three free schools as a result of an inadequate Ofsted judgement.