Bill Wiggin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will discuss with (a) the Whitbourne Independent School and Hub and (b) other projects whose applications for free school status were turned down those applicants’ feedback on how the application process can be made easier for small independent schools.

Mr Edward Timpson

The Department for Education welcomes all feedback on its processes and routinely surveys both successful and unsuccessful free school applicants to ensure the application process remains rigorous and fair and that only the strongest applications are approved.

The Whitbourne Independent School and Hub unsuccessfully applied to the New School Network’s development programme, but has not applied to the Department of Education to open a free school. It is welcome to do so.