Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Spring Budget 2024, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of locating one of the 15 new special free schools in Bournemouth.

The department received a total of 85 applications from local authorities to open a special free school in the most recent, very competitive application round, including two applications from Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council.

The department plans to select 15 successful applications from the pool of applications. This will remain a competitive process. The approach means the department can move quickly to appoint trusts to run these schools.

The department plans to announce those local authorities which have been successful for the additional special free schools by May 2024.