Political opinion: Mims Davies MP shares consultation on lifting 50% cap on Faith School Places

Proposals to create more good school places through lifting the faith cap will be unveiled today (Wednesday 1st May), as new data shows over half of schools are now academies.

The consultation can be found here:

Faith school designation reforms - Department for Education - Citizen Space

A consultation on lifting the 50% cap, which applies to new faith free schools, will be launched alongside proposals on opening special faith-based academies. These proposals build on the government’s success in raising school standards, with 90% of schools now rated Good or Outstanding, up from just 68% in 2010. Pupils in England are now ‘best in the West’ at reading and have risen to 11th in the global maths rankings, up from only 27th in 2009, according to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study.

The proposals mean high performing faith school providers will be able to create more good school places and create strong multi-academy trusts around the country where there is demand. The Church of England, Catholic Church and other faith school providers have a track record in delivering high quality education and run some of the highest performing schools across the country.

Mims Davies MP said: "Today marks the launch of this very important consultation which will explore how to maximise the benefits that high quality academy trusts deliver. With particular emphasis on how to improve provision for our children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by opening special faith-based academies.

This consultation has been launched with the aim of helping the government to support faith school providers in opening more schools across the country.

We are continuing to make record investments, as we deliver on 60,000 more special needs places in Mid Sussex and across the country, helping to increase capacity following a decrease in pupils in special schools between 1997 and 2010.

The consultation will run for seven weeks, closing on 20th June 2024."

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said:  "As someone who attended a faith school as a child and having worked closely with our leading faith groups as Education Secretary, I’ve seen first-hand how their values and standards so often give young people a brilliant start in life.

Faith groups run some of the best schools in the country, including in some of the most disadvantaged areas, and it’s absolutely right we support them to unleash that potential even further – including through the creation of the first ever faith academies for children with special educational needs.

Our plan to give every child a world-class education is working, with 90% of schools now good or outstanding up from just 68% 2010, but we will keep raising that bar until every school is as good as the best."