This section presents the findings in relation to Free School intakes in 2015, using the most up-to-date data available from the Annual Schools Census. In July 2015 there were 198 mainstream Free Schools open in England (from a total of 256 Free Schools altogether). According to the 2015 Annual Schools Census a total of 36,412 students were being educated
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in a mainstream Free School that had opened between 2011 and 2014. Of these students, 5,681 were reported as being eligible for the receipt of Free School Meals, 15.6% of the Free School population. This slightly exceeds the most recent national figure for FSM eligibility which, according to government statistics, currently stands at 15.2 % of pupils (DfE, 2015c). Table 8.1 shows the FSM average and ranges for each wave of Free School in 2014-2015. The data presented here are in relation to the whole school cohort as of January 2015, meaning that for the schools that opened in 2011, the data refer to the last four years of intakes. By contrast the 2014 schools have just one year of students represented. Changes in student compositions over time are considered in more detail in section 2.
Table 8.1: Range of Free School FSM percentages for each wave (2014-2015)
Mean Median Std Dev Min Max Range n
Wave 1 12.3 9.7 8.1 0.0 28.2 28.2 23 Wave 2 18.9 15.9 14.4 2.4 59.6 57.2 46 Wave 3 16.3 11.8 12.7 0.0 47.7 47.7 71 Wave 4 16.3 16.9 12.2 0.0 60.3 60.3 58 The overall figure of 15.6% FSM children in Free Schools may suggest that the schools are taking their ‘fair share’ of disadvantaged pupils. Looking beyond the national figure though, it is possible to see differences between the waves (Table 8.1) and individual schools, and also how these compare with local and LA figures. The varied aims and types of Free Schools and the non-random nature of where they have been established means that we would expect substantial individual differences between the schools and their intakes. In relation to the research question, however, it is important that we attempt to build up a picture of the extent to which they are serving disadvantaged children compared to other schools in their local area. The aim is to explore whether groups of advantaged or disadvantaged children appear to be clustering within Free Schools and to consider the potential impact that this might have over time.
The Local Authority FSM percentage was used as the initial local comparator for the Free Schools. Figure 8.1 shows the FSM percentages at each of the 198 mainstream Free Schools compared with the FSM proportions for their corresponding Local Authorities in 2015. The wave or year of opening of each school is also indicated. Individual schools which are taking a smaller proportion of disadvantaged children than their LA fall below the sloped line
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whereas Free Schools that are taking more sit above the line. The graph indicates the extent to which Free Schools’ intakes are in line with those of the LA more broadly. It shows that, in 2015, 74 Free Schools (37.4%) had FSM proportions higher than those of their LA whereas 124 schools (62.6%) were below their LA percentage. It is important to reiterate here, however, that for some of the newest or smallest schools, the small numbers attending can mean that just a few children can alter the proportions considerably. This is taken in to account when discussing the findings.
Figure 8.1: Free School FSM proportions compared with corresponding LA (2014-2015)
The graph shows that many of the Free Schools are opening in areas with high levels of poverty. The vertical line, for example, sits at 15.2%, the national FSM figure for 2014-15. Over half of the schools (57.3%) are situated in Local Authorities which have a FSM percentage that exceeds the national figure. However, 69 (60.5%) of these Free Schools have
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FSM proportions lower than that of their LA. This suggests that whilst some Free Schools are locating in more disadvantaged areas, their intakes are not necessarily representative of the wider Local Authority population. This also appears to be the case for many of the schools opening in LAs that have a Free School percentage below the national average. Earlier on the first wave of schools indicate similar findings (Shepherd, 2012); the data here is important in showing that the issue persists and that it was not just a finding something that can be associated with the first Free Schools.
As has been discussed in previous chapters, comparison between individual schools and a Local Authority can be useful but is not ideal. The LA figure represents an average and provides an indication of poverty levels across what can often be a large and demographically varied geographical area. We would not necessarily expect individual schools to have FSM proportions completely in line with these figures as that could ignore the more localised approach to school choice that occurs in some areas and for some schools. A LA with a relatively low FSM average may still contain schools with much higher proportions of poorer children because of close proximity to more deprived neighbourhoods. The opposite is also true. As a result of this, comparison with a smaller set of the six geographically closest schools to the Free Schools was used. This provides a picture of whether the intakes of other local schools are similar or different to that of the Free School and also enables us to establish the extent to which the Free School is taking an ‘equal share’ of poorer children in relation to these schools. In some cases, these ‘choice sets’ help to explain some of the substantial differences seen between LAs and Free School intakes whilst in other cases, they continue to suggest a picture of clustering of advantaged or disadvantaged children. Segregation ratios have been used to explore the proportions of FSM children in the Free Schools and other local schools.
Figure 8.2 indicates the number of Free Schools within each range of SRs. As a reminder, a school with an SR of one is taking an exactly ‘equal’ share of disadvantaged students where as a school with an SR of 0.5 is taking half of an ‘equal’ based on the numbers of children across the schools set.
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Figure 8.2: Frequency of segregation ratios (SRs) of all mainstream Free Schools (2014-2015)
The SRs have been categorised further as follows for clearer interpretation.
SR 0-0.49 Considerable under-representation of FSM children
SR 0.5-0.74 Under-representation of FSM children
SR 0.75-1.24 Moderate representation of FSM children
SR 1.25-1.49 Over-representation of FSM children
SR >1.5 Considerable over-representation of FSM children
These categories take in to account the fact that we do not expect a perfect distribution and a score of ‘1’ from any school. As a result it is too simplistic to just look at schools which have a SR of below 1 and those that have a SR of above 1 in order to establish whether they are taking an equal share of poorer children. Such an analysis would not address the considerable variation that can occur within these two groups.
As a result, the data from 2014-2015 show that 93 Free Schools (47.0%) were under- representing disadvantaged pupils. A third of Free Schools (33.3%) had a moderate representation of FSM children while nearly a fifth of schools (19.7%) were over-representing
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 0-0.24 0.25-0.49 0.5-0.74 0.75-0.99 1-1.24 1.25-1.49 1.5-1.74 >1.74 N u m b e r o f Fr e e Sc h o o ls
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disadvantaged children in relation to their local schools set. Table 8.2 shows a break-down of the figures in relation to the age groups that the schools serve.
Table 8.2: Representation of FSM children in mainstream Free Schools by school phase (age) School phase
Frequency Primary Secondary All-through
Considerably under-representing 52 (26.3%) 33 9 10 Under-representing 41 (20.7%) 20 18 3 Moderate representation 66 (33.3%) 27 32 7 Over-representing 19 (9.6%) 9 9 1 Considerably over-representing 20 (10.1%) 6 14 0 Total 198 95 82 21
The data indicate that primary and all-through schools appear to be the most likely to under- represent poorer children. Over half (55.5%) of primary schools had segregation ratios of between 0-0.74 compared with 40.2% of the secondary schools. It is also the secondary schools which appear to be most likely to over-represent FSM children with 28.0% of them doing so compared with 15.8% of the primaries. Figure 8.3 summarises this finding using the three collapsed categories.
Figure 8.4 breaks down the SR data in relation to the year that the schools were opened. Each of the four waves in 2014-2015 had more schools under-representing FSM children than those moderately or over-representing them. Two thirds of the schools that opened in 2011 were under-representing disadvantaged pupils by 2014-2015, showing a continued trend of under- representation (Morris, 2015) and indicating that the development of cohorts over time is not necessarily going to lead to more balanced intakes. There is also perhaps an argument that the first wave of Free Schools are in some way ‘different’ to the other waves of Free Schools; they do not appear to have the same range of intakes that the 2012-2014 openers have although there are fewer of Wave 1 schools to begin with. These issues are considered in more depth in subsequent sections.
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Figure 8.3: Percentage of primary, secondary and all-through Free Schools over or under- representing FSM children.
Figure 8.4: Percentage of Free Schools from each wave and their representation of FSM eligible children in 2014-2015
The under-representation in the first, relatively small wave of schools should not, however, take away from some of the issues that also appear to be persisting across other waves. While each wave of schools has a core group (between 28-36% of the total) with moderate representation of poorer pupils, around 40% of schools in each wave are also under- representing these children.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Primary Secondary All-through
% Phase Under-representation Moderate representation Over-representation 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2011 2012 2013 2014 % o f Sch o o ls
Year Free School Opened
Under-representation Moderate representation Over-representation
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