Changes to the Government’s free school programme will see it focus on the bottom third of lowest-performing areas in the country.
Around 35 new schools will be introduced, particularly in the North East, after the Government faced criticism that the programme had generally only focused on wealthier areas in the South East.
In addition, councils will receive £50 million to create around 740 new school places for children with special needs, as part of a £680 million boost from the Department for Education to create 40,000 more good school place by 2021.
Free schools in the UK are privately run but publicly funded.
