Hopes for inner-city free school rest on sports ground decision

A PLAN for an inner-city free school which will get every pupil to sit GCSEs in traditional academic subjects will move a step closer to reality next week if councillors agree to give it a site.

The Hull Free School has initial Government backing to open next year in a £9.5m building.

Now the city’s council is recommending that it gives the former Hull FC Boulevard ground site to the school on a 125-year lease on a peppercorn rent. The authority’s cabinet will make a decision when it meets next Monday.

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Every pupil at the Hull Free School will be entered into the GCSEs they need to earn the English Baccalaureate (E-Bacc) – a qualification created by the Government to encourage schools to teach core academic subjects.

The E-Bacc is awarded to pupils who achieve C grades or above in at least six GCSEs comprising English, maths, two sciences, a modern language and either history or geography.

The Hull Free School is being proposed by an education consultant, a company director and an accountant. Consultant Carol White, a former director of children’s services in Calderdale, became involved through her work to raise attainment in Hull schools.

She said: “I hope we do not just receive applications from the most aspirational parents, we want as broad a range of pupils as possible.

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“This is an exciting time to be involved in education in Hull. I hope that the Hull Free School can contribute to what is starting to develop in the city which could challenge the perceptions there have been about what Hull has to be.”

The original plan for Hull Free School was being led by St Mary’s College, a secondary in the city. However this was blocked by the Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough which did not want St Mary’s to develop a non-faith school.

Now a new group has taken the project on. The school needs planning permission and a funding agreement with Ministers before it can be built and open.

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