ABSTRACT
The last three decades have seen a process of almost continuous change in the organisation of secondary education in England. Successive Conservative, Labour and now coalition governments have reorganised the government-funded secondary sector such that there has been growing specialisation, selection and privatisation, with schools gradually being removed from the direct control of local authorities and new schools being established outside their control. The latest of these moves is the introduction of Free Schools, which are run by charitable trusts and sponsored by groups of parents, teachers or others, or by universities, private schools, religious organisations or companies. They are often seen as a dramatically new way of establishing new schools and encouraging the supply side of the quasi-market in schooling. But the Free Schools have several antecedents, which all relate to increasing privatisation and new forms of selection. This paper considers the rise of Free Schools in the longer historical context and considers the implications of these new schools in terms of social (in)justice.
