Swedes fail to prove Gove's proposition

The biggest beneficiaries tend to be students from highly-educated families, rather those from low educated backgrounds, it says today.

The paper, published in Research in Public Policy, reviews the evidence on "free schools" in Sweden.

Under the Swedish system, different non-profit and for-profit organisations are able to set up and run schools funded with public money, but independent from government control.

Mr Gove revealed details last week of plans to allow parents' groups, teachers, charities, and voluntary groups to set up and operate schools, which would be taxpayer-funded and non-fee-paying but independent from state control.

He has previously highlighted the Swedish model, as well as the charter schools system in the United States as examples of successful free schools policies.

The report's author, Rebecca Allen of the Institute of Education, found Sweden's experience of free schools is limited in predicting the impact of similar reforms in England.

Swedish pupils did not appear to be harmed but the new schools had not transformed educational attainment.

The report highlights evidence that shows a "moderately positive" impact of free schools on academic performance when pupils are 15 and 6, but adds: "The biggest beneficiaries are children from highly educated families; the impact on low educated families and immigrants is close to zero."