Introduction

Why should you

become a Free

School?

What you should

do before the

application?

The application

stage

Preparing for re-

opening

Company Registration No. 6953650 – Registered Charity No: 1132122

Independent

converters:

Preparing to become

a Free School

(Mainstream)

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Introduction

Over the last 3 years the Free Schools policy has been used by the government to bring a range of

high quality independent schools into the state sector. So far, the DfE have approved 15 applications

from independent schools seeking to convert to Free School status.

Joining the state sector can bring a range of benefits to existing independent schools but there is no

easy passage to Free School status. The DfE have received dozens of applications from independent

schools looking to convert their status but only a small minority of these have been approved. Some

those who have been approved have found integrating smoothly into the state sector very

challenging. It is therefore important that independent schools seeking to convert to Free School

status are aware of the specific challenges facing them and begin to prepare for them at an early

stage.

This note aims to help you decide whether your independent school is right for conversion. It will

also help you to prepare your application so that you include all the information the DfE are looking

for and highlight some of the key issues successful converters have faced in their first couple of years

of opening. This should give you an idea of what you should prepare yourself for in order to be an

outstanding Free School.

Why should you become a Free School?

You will need to think carefully whether converting to Free School status is the right move for you. It

is a challenging process, even for a school that is already open. You will need to consider how

becoming a Free School may change your student population, how you provide for them, the way

they are assessed and how you organise their learning in order to reflect the standards all state

schools are expected to meet. You will need to be self-aware enough to acknowledge what changes

are necessary to your existing provision and be willing to make them.

What the DfE are looking for

The DfE want to see evidence of need for any Free School – this may be to tackle a shortage of

places, to improve low educational standards locally and/or to offer parents a new choice. All Free

Schools must provide evidence that local parents want that particular school in their area. The DfE

want to see high quality proposals which provide good value for money and which clearly add to the

existing state provision in an area.

As an independent school wishing to convert to Free School status you will have to show that you

can provide good value for money and that you will be successful in the state sector. In order to do

so, you should explore the following factors. These are not totally prescriptive, some will be more

important than others, and the DfE will consider your application in the round, but if none of the

criteria apply to you, you should seriously consider whether joining the state sector is right for you.

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As an independent school you should be able to demonstrate that you have:

been rated good or outstanding (or the equivalent) in recent Ofsted or other regulatory

inspections;

delivered consistently good results, for example, 5A*-C including English and Mathematics

GCSE results that are at least equal to the local authority average in all of the last 3 years (if

secondary provision); and

have a good financial track record and should have a low, if any, level of debt.

As a Free School your application should demonstrate how you will add value to the state sector, in

particular by:

not requiring a large capital investment (the department will expect you to convert with a

viable site, requiring little to no investment);

increasing access to high quality education for pupils from poorer backgrounds, for example

by committing to use the pupil premium as part of your over-subscription criteria

adding school places in an area of basic need – either by filling empty spaces in your school

or creating new ones

You should not seek to convert if:

Your current provision is not good or outstanding;

Your school has substantial debt;

Conversion will require a large capital injection;

You are struggling financially and see Free School status as a financial lifeline; or

You have no plans to broaden your intake and/or increase the number of places you provide

What you should do before the application

There are a number of aspects to consider before you go ahead with your application.

Establish need and demand

The DfE require all Free Schools to show that they are being set up in areas where there is evidence

of need for them. As an existing independent school, you can show this need by providing evidence:

(a) of basic need, ie. a shortage of school places in the relevant phase in the area in which you

plan to set up your school; and / or

(b) that the current level of education in the area is underperforming.

Another aspect of responding to need is dealing with deprivation. The DfE expects independent

schools in areas of deprivation that are looking to convert to Free School status to demonstrate that

they are offering the local community greater access to good quality state education.

As an independent converter you will need to show that you are in a position to respond to the

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needs of the community. You should look beyond your current pupil population

and seek to reach out to parts of the local community you have not been able to serve before.

You will need to show that, by converting to a Free School, you will be helping a more diverse cross-

section of your local community so you will need to carefully analyse your potential pupil cohort and

establish a plan to reach out to the community. You can analyse your local demographic by looking

at other local schools, finding data on the ONS website (here) or you can buy into services such as

geoplan.com which can provide you with detailed accurate data on the social/economic status of

your catchment area.

As well as evidence of need, the DfE ask all Free School applicants to show that there is evidence of

demand from local parents/ young people for what they are offering. As an independent school, this

means showing that there is not just demand for you to join the state sector from those who

currently access it, but also from those who do not currently attend it. You should gather enough

evidence of this demand to show that your school would be full in the first two years it opened as a

Free School. The DfE will not approve schools which show insufficient demand. You can find more

information on how to gather evidence of demand here.

Responding to the need: consider what you would do differently to maintain a good or

outstanding educational standard

Once you have established that there is a need and a demand for your school to open up to the

wider community, you should consider how you will respond to this while preserving your ethos.

You should remember that, once converted, you will need to comply with the School Admissions

Code. For example, this means you will not be able to select any pupils on academic ability, unless

they are entering a 16-19 element of your school. You can find more detail on the Admissions Code

and how to draw up a Free School admission policy amongst the DfE’s additional documents on pre-

opening here.

In becoming a Free School your pupil numbers should increase, even if only up to your current PAN.

Moreover, the background of the young people attending your school is likely to change and you

may well be catering for a wider range of abilities and special educational needs and for pupils from

a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. This is especially relevant given that the DfE now require

all independent schools converting to Free School status to prioritise pupils from disadvantaged

backgrounds in their admissions policy.

As a high quality independent school, you are likely to want to preserve much of the curriculum and

ethos which has made you successful. However, if your pupil cohort is likely to change then your

approach may need to as well. You may need for instance to modify your curriculum in order to

make additional provision for pupils with special educational needs, or English as an additional

language. You may need to organise your classes differently or make additional pastoral provisions.

As a Free School you do not have to follow the National Curriculum and are free to adopt or retain

whatever style of curriculum you favour, from a traditional academic approach to other more

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specialist curricula (you can find more details on various available curricula in

our note here). Nevertheless, you should think of the needs of all pupils, and consider how your

curriculum and its delivery will improve pupil outcomes on a range of measures. You should also

bear in mind that you will need to demonstrate that you are closing the attainment gap between

advantaged and disadvantaged pupils. You should be revising your key performance indicators

(KPIs) in line with your new goals.

You need to remember the following:

For primary schools, a broad and balanced curriculum should include the core subjects of

English, mathematics and science and will need to support pupil progression onto secondary

education;

For secondary schools, a broad and balanced curriculum should include, but not be limited

to, the core subjects of English, mathematics and science;

16-19 Free Schools do not have to offer a broad and balanced curriculum but applications

should set out what subjects will be covered, the range of qualifications offered and how

these will meet the needs and interests of all students; and

Special and AP schools do not have to offer a broad and balanced curriculum. They must

accommodate the needs of their pupils but the school will need to offer a broad and

balanced curriculum to any student without a referral or a statement.

You should have at the forefront of your mind how you will provide evidence of your educational

standards by reviewing your assessment framework. For example, independent primary schools

may not necessarily work towards the same Key Stage 2 level assessments but these will become

compulsory once you have converted. If you become a Free School you will need to publish far more

detailed data than you are probably currently used to. You should bear in mind that independent

schools do not usually monitor and track pupils in the way that is needed in the state sector. This is

a key issue in terms of whole school culture, staff training and systems development that needs to

be addressed both in securing approval for conversion from the DfE, and in the post opening phase.

Consider your financial requirements

One of the priorities for the DfE is ensuring the Free School programme provides good value for

money. Therefore, in independent converters, it will be looking for schools that can show a record

of good financial management.

You need to consider all the financial implications of a conversion including carrying out an audit of

all the changes to your processes and finances that might be required by conversion. You may well

end up with a very different budget than that which you currently have. You could consider the

following (this is not an exhaustive list):

What costs would be incurred in implementing the recommendations of a staff skills review -

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requirement for new staff, new skills, training reviews, from

management to teachers;

What changes may be need to be made to your pastoral system or behaviour policy;

The costs of increasing the school year to a minimum of 39 weeks (many independent

schools operate on 36 weeks a year);

The costs of improving classroom provision or other school accommodation (catering, sports

facilities, additional specialist facilities…) to cater for any increase in numbers (this could

mean small scale construction or conversion);

Any associated fixtures and fittings costs;

Whether any changes will be needed to your external space to cater for any increase in

numbers (although do take into account that currently the guidelines allow for smaller

spaces per pupil, see our note on premises here);

Whether you need a security review;

Whether any changes will be required to comply with the Disability Act;

Will you need to carry out an administration services review;

The costs of potentially increasing the length of the school day;

The extent of any additional heating and lighting costs;

Any additional ICT/ or wider operational/maintenance costs.

You need to consider the implications of your changed pupil demographic - for example, will the

number of pupils on Free School Meals (FSM) attending your school increase and how you can cater

for this? This includes how you would apply the Pupil Premium to best advantage.

An obvious area of potentially significant cost is premises. The DfE will only be looking to convert

schools which already have suitable premises so you should not assume that any considerable

building works will be approved. Any request for a large cash injection will need to be fully justified.

Review your governance structure

The role of a governor in a Free School effectively combines the role of school governor and trustee,

since they have a number of legal duties related to the Company Limited by Guarantee which will

form the basis of the new Free School and duties related to the effective running of the school .

The demands placed upon governors in a Free School will certainly be different and may well be

greater than those they have in your existing independent school. More information about their role

can be found on p.19 of the DfE’s ‘How to Apply’ guidance for Free Schools and on the DfE web site

here. Ofsted have also published guidance on their expectations for governors, here.

You will need to ensure that your governors understand and are up for the challenge of the extra

requirements of conversion. If they are not, then you need to be prepared to replace them.

Before you apply to convert to Free School status you will need to review what changes may be

needed to ensure that your current governing documents comply with the DfE standards and will

allow your school to be an exempt charity. You can find out more about the legal requirements

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involved in running a company limited by guarantee which forms the basis of a

Free School in our note here.

If you are already set up as a charitable company with the purpose of providing education you

should be able to use your current organisation but you will be required to amend your

memorandum and articles of association so that they are the same as the model articles which all

Free Schools must adopt. Amending the governing documents of a charity can be a complex process

depending on the terms of your current documents. You may be required to obtain approvals from

all the trustees and permissions from the charities commission and/or companies house. You should

refer to your current governing documents to find out what you will be required to do. You may find

it easier to set up a new company limited by guarantee with the Free School model constitutional

documents.

Review staffing model

You will need to be realistic about the capacity and capabilities of your current staff and

management. You will need to ensure that you have adequate teaching staff to deal with your

increased pupil numbers and that they are properly qualified to deal with the new demands they

may face from your intake. Your governing body should instigate a realistic audit of the staff’s

ability, including senior management. Do you have the high quality of staff you need? Do you need

new skills amongst your staffing body? What training might be needed? For example, you might

need a full time SENCO or staff with expertise in dealing with pupils with EAL. Do not be afraid to

consider this an opportunity to rebuild.

Although it is not necessary to employ teachers with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in Free Schools,

(apart from the SENCO who must have QTS) it is likely that in order to run a successful state school

you will want to recruit qualified teachers who are familiar with state school standards and

assessment frameworks.

The same applies to the Head Teachers. A Head of a Free School does not have to have a national

professional qualification for headship but you may consider it advisable in order to demonstrate to

the DfE that your leadership team has sufficient management skills. You should also show in what

other ways your leadership team has been refreshed and/or can demonstrate that they have the

capacity to manage change/transition and run a Free School which meets the needs of a far more

diverse intake, whilst scaling up numbers.

Be aware of inspection requirements

One main issue that has faced independent converters’ has been their lack of preparedness in

understanding and meeting the requirements of the new Section 5 Ofsted inspection framework.

The independent sector inspection framework has recently been brought more into line with the

state sector so, in future, this should become less of an issue, but up until now the two frameworks

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have had quite a different emphasis and this has caused difficulties for

independent converters in their early years as a Free School.

You can find more details on the framework for the Ofsted inspection of independent schools here.

You can find out more about Ofsted’s framework and key judgments for maintained schools and

Academies here.

The Ofsted judgements you will be reviewed upon are:

Achievement of pupils at the school (academically but also the spiritual, moral, social and

cultural development of the pupils);

Quality of teaching in the school;

Behaviour and safety of pupils at the school; and

Quality of leadership and management of the school.

If you are considering conversion, you must:

Be aware of the requirements of the Ofsted inspection regime;

Understand the implications of the additional requirements on your internal systems and

processes and have plans in place to address them; and

Be prepared to supply additional information on pupil progress and on teacher training and

their performance review.

The application stage

Independent schools have got to make as compelling a case for conversion in their application forms

as groups who want to set up entirely new schools do. The information you will need to provide to

the DfE in your application is listed in their How to Apply Guidance here.

In addition to setting out your vision, education plans, budget, capacity and capability and evidence

of need, the DfE ask independent schools to provide additional information including:

A link to your latest inspection report;

Evidence that your school has no significant outstanding issues on compliance in the most

recent inspection report; and

The last two years’ audited accounts, or some other evidence of financial viability if the

school has not been open long enough.

You will also need to:

Sign a declaration guaranteeing that you have disclosed all your financial liabilities; and

Complete a self-assessment against the Ofsted Section 5 criteria as part of your application.

The DfE also suggest that you may want to get this externally verified (i.e. arrange a ‘mock

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inspection’ of your school). A template is provided in the application

form. You can find more information about what Ofsted normally expects from a self-

evaluation here.

Evidence of standards

To consider your application to become a Free School, the DfE require minimum standards to have

been achieved in your school’s previous inspection report.

Schools inspected by Ofsted, the Bridge Schools Inspectorate or the School Inspection Service must

have achieved a judgement of good or better in the following areas:

The quality of education;

Safeguarding pupils’ welfare, health and safety; and

Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Schools inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate must have achieved a judgement of good or better in the following areas:

The quality of academic and other achievements;

The contribution of curricular and extra-curricular provision;

The contribution of teaching;

The quality of the pupils’ personal development;

The contributions of arrangements for welfare, health and safety;

The effectiveness of governance, leadership and management;

The quality of education;

Safeguarding pupils’ welfare, health and safety; and

Promoting the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils.

In addition, you will need to set out the results for your school and your performance data. For

example, if you are a secondary provision you should be including your 5A*-C including English and

mathematics GCSE results and comparing them to local averages. You can find more detail about

what data you need to include in our handbook.

Filling out the application form

As an independent school, you will need to complete all sections of the DfE application form as if

you were a new applicant. This will most likely be the application form for route 2. Route 1 is for

applicants who have had a Free School approved previously and will not apply to you unless perhaps

your school has already opened a partner Free School or you are part of a group of schools one or

some of which have already converted. If you are unsure about which route you should adopt,

please do contact us.

Although you are an existing school, you should not assume any knowledge of your situation on

behalf of the reader of your application. When drafting your application form, you should take a

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step back and consider that your reader will not have any idea of what your

school is about or what you hope to be. You should set out to draft a compelling picture of what

your school is, what you do achieve and what you aim to achieve. This does not mean simply

replicating and extending what you do now for an increased number of pupils or reflecting on past

success, but reviewing how your vision, ethos and aspirations for excellence can be most successfully

translated into the new context.

You can refer to the DfE’s How to Apply Guides here and the NSN handbooks here for complete

guidance on how to complete the application form. In our handbooks we do highlight the particular

sections which Independent Schools need to complete differently to other applicants. You will of

course have to complete the entire application form as it applies to you, but in the table below we

have summarised the areas of the application form which you will specifically need to pay attention

to as an independent converter and how you should approach them so as to appear most

convincing:

Section A There are specific documents which you will need to provide in this section, including the link to recent inspections and performance data. Please refer to our handbook, for a complete list of requirements.

Section C Rationale: provide a clear argument for why your local community needs and wants your school to become a Free School. How will it benefit the state sector, how you can help the community, how you can increase your numbers (either by filling existing places or creating new ones)? Vision: given the changes required to rationalise your conversion, set out how your vision and ethos for your school will need to change, or if you do not envisage any change, how will your ethos benefit your community? (Your rationale and vision should clearly inform/underpin all the other sections)

Section D 1 How will the changes in your demographic and numbers be reflected in how your curriculum is imparted and how your school is organised?

Section D 2 You will need to define what you consider achievement in your pupils and explain how you will monitor the needs of your pupils. This information will need to be put together in a way as to satisfy the requirements of Ofsted.

Section D 3 What corresponding changes will need to be made to your staffing structure?

Section E You will need to show clear evidence of need and of demand beyond your current pupil intake. You will need to show how you have reached out beyond your usual demographic to pupils from a more disadvantaged background. You should distinguish between the demand of current parents and new prospective parents.

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Section F 2/3 You will need to show that your governance structure and staff expertise will be of a sufficient standard post conversion. If you have doubts, you need to set out plans for restructuring or recruiting.

Section F 7/8 Show evidence of educational and financial track record through previous inspections and financial records and a self assessment against the Ofsted s.5 framework. Please refer to our handbook for more detail.

Section G You will need to fully demonstrate the financial viability of your school by completing the financial templates and justifying any financial commitment you are asking for. The DfE will be very reluctant to allow any substantial capital injection unless it is fully justified by a large increase in numbers and a widening of your demographic.

Section H The DfE are looking to keep the costs of conversion as low as possible. They are unlikely to accept to provide a large capital injection for example for new premises. However, if the capital injection is the most value for money option for improving the educational provision in the area, this may be necessary. You will need to show what changes to your premises are necessary and how this provides value for money.

Be prepared for a visit before a DfE interview

Following submission of your application, the next stage is to be invited to interview. If the DfE are

going to invite you for an interview, as you are a school that is already open and they can witness

the reality of your school in action, prior to the interview, they will order a visit of your school to be

carried out by a DfE education adviser and the EFA. This will inform their questions at the interview

and the assessment generally.

This visit can take place only a few weeks after you have submitted your application. So you need to

be prepared to demonstrate what your school has achieved and what it has the potential to achieve.

Preparing for ‘pre-opening’

This section will give you some idea of what will be required of you if you are ‘approved’ following a

successful application - it is not intended to be a comprehensive guide.

You can find the DfE’s guide to mainstream schools in pre-opening here, which although aimed at

groups setting up schools from scratch gives you a good idea of what will need to be done so that

you are prepared for the road ahead.

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Be aware of your timeline

Once you have been approved you can start with the preparations to convert to the state system.

Although you have a head start with a school already up and running, there is still plenty to do. Have

a clear timeline which incorporates all the changes that you will need to make both educationally

and operationally. Consider how best to organise/lead the ongoing operation of the school while

making any necessary changes to the management structure. A model is available in the DfE

guidance on pre-opening in the link above. Applications made going forward will be for schools to

‘re-open’ in September 2015. As stated in the DfE’s ‘How to Apply Guidance’, only those applying to

the DfE in September 2013 will be considered for conversion in September 2014, and only then in

exceptional circumstances. If you wish to do so, you will need to show that you are ready in terms of

capacity and capability and that your school is already running successfully.

Keep talking to parents and your local community

You will have done research for your application to show evidence of sufficient demand for your

school. You will now need to secure this demand and get firm applications for your school. You can

choose to run your own admissions process or integrate into the Local Authority’s application

rounds. Be aware that if you want to join in the LA’s process, you will need to be ready to advertise

your new Free School by roughly a year before opening in the case of a secondary school and by the

end of the year before opening in the case of a primary.

Please be aware that you will also need to carry out a s. 10 consultation. You can find more

information on this process in the DfE pre-opening guide here. In summary, you will need to consult

with all local stakeholders on any issues arising out of the conversion of your school. You will need

to answer any queries you receive and potentially make changes to your plans if there are any strong

valid objections. Through this process you will secure the support of the local community. As this

statutory consultation takes place roughly 9 months before your school converts, it can also help you

to spread the word and potentially recruit new pupils.

Be aware of your financial allowances and commitments

As an independent converter in the pre-opening stage you do get some funding - £25,000 - from the

DfE to cover costs incurred during this period, however, this allowance is considerably less than that

afforded to new groups. Independent schools will not normally be eligible for a leadership grant.

NSN have prepared a budget planning tool which is available to groups in pre-opening, once you

have been approved, you will be able to access it through our pre-opening micro-site. This tool has

been prepared with new groups in mind but it can be adapted to your situation by inserting your

more limited budget. You will not need to incur costs in all the categories mentioned but it will give

you an idea of where you will need to spend and help you budget. The DfE are very unlikely to

approve any increase in your grant so please do be aware of your limitations.

Be prepared to enter the state system

As highlighted earlier, the framework for inspecting independent and state schools has significant

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differences that you need to be aware of and be prepared to address.

Before you re-open as a Free School, unlike all new schools, you will not be subjected to a pre-

registration inspection by Ofsted, as you are already registered. However, you should be fully

prepared for the first official inspection of your school which will take place within 2 years of

conversion. You will need to have shown that your school had been rated good or outstanding in

your latest inspection report. If pupil performance in Key Stage assessments or any other public

examinations or measurable results, has dipped at all since the most recent inspection judgement,

you will need to give reasons for this, and show how any issues have been addressed.

The first independent schools to have converted to Free School status have had their first Ofsted

reports published. These converters have generally had common issues identified particularly

around tracking and monitoring:

the training of staff in their appreciation of 'outstanding' results, which needs to be

improved in order to enable them help their pupils to achieve outstanding results;

The systems in place to check the content and quality of lessons are not rigorous enough to

be considered at least 'Good';

A lack of intervention mechanisms for staff who underperform;

A lack of understanding of the requirements of Ofsted, and hence ineffective self evaluation;

and

A lack of systems in place to check that marking policies are working.

The key area where the schools have faced issues is in the effective tracking of pupil progress

utilising all available data, including previous key stage outcomes and benchmarking data to ensure

an understanding of pupil ability, pupil progress and appropriate pupil target setting. This needs to

be in place at all levels from teachers tracking individual pupils to whole school performance

analysis. This tracking needs to detail timescales for data collection, performance reviews and must

include detailed success criteria. Ofsted has concluded that part of the issue facing independent

converters lies in a lack of clear management structure covering all aspects of individual

responsibility for school operations and setting out detailed lines of accountability at every stage.

Be prepared for conditions to your approval

In many cases the DfE have approved Free Schools, including those converting from the independent

sector with, with conditions. For example, they may recommend that the applicant school make

changes to its financial plan or bring on board additional capacity and capability to manage the pre-

opening stage. You should be open to taking these on board if presented with them, since they will

be fundamental to your project going ahead. If you are conscious of your weaknesses, it is important

that that you show the DfE that you are prepared to remedy them.