Some 9,000 school places will be created through the first wave of 18 free schools to be announced by the Conservative Government.
Those given the go ahead include Solihull Alternative Provision Academy, set up by three headteachers of high-performing schools in the area.
The Government has pledged to deliver two waves of free schools a year until 2020 with the aim of creating 270,000 places.
Education secretary Nicky Morgan said: ‘We know that free schools don’t just give parents greater choice, they also force existing schools to up their game. ‘Today’s news sends a clear message that we are committed to extending this unprecedented level of choice to more parents than ever before.’
The latest wave will bring the total number of free schools in England to 270 and a further 98 are currently in the pipeline.
Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said: ‘The Government seems determined to start the new school term in the manner in which it concluded the last – peddling a series of untruths and misrepresentations about the ideological academy and free school programme.’
