Free schools 'should be allowed to profit'

Free schools should be allowed to make a profit, it has been suggested.

According to rightwing thinktank the Adam Smith Institute, for-profit companies should be able to run the schools without the need for charitable status or trust framework, which legislation requires at present, the Guardian reports.

Tom Clougherty, the institute's executive director, said: "Unless you allow for-profit companies to enter the market, it is very hard to see where all those new school places are going to come from."

A report by the thinktank noted that only a handful of new free schools are set to open in September of this year.

This is despite the fact that the conservative party set a target in 2008 to provide 220,000 additional school places.

The organisation argued that there is no evidence that standards of education would be compromised by allowing free school providers to make a profit.

Free schools are all-ability state-funded schools which can be established by teachers, charities, parents and education experts to address demand within an area.

 Posted by Dolcie Thacker
 

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