Michael Gove defends interest in new 'free schools'
Education Secretary Michael Gove has said 16 so-called "free schools" will be set up over the next year - "well in excess" of the numbers he hoped for.Mr Gove told the BBC he was "excited" by interest in the flagship programme.
Labour say demand for free schools - state funded institutions outside local authority control - is meagre and the government's priorities are wrong.Mr Gove also said he wanted a "English baccalaureate" enabling pupils to study a wider range of subjects.
The idea of a new diploma for 14 to 16-year-olds will form part of an education white paper this autumn, Mr Gove said, focused on giving children a broader education and a "core body of knowledge".
He told BBC One's Andrew Marr show school standards in England had "fallen behind" those in other countries and introducing a baccalaureate - featuring a minimum of five subjects - was one of way of raising them.
Mr Gove said he was pleased with progress in the government's two leading school reform policies - the expansion of Labour's academy programme and the setting up of
hope new, more autonomous, schools in the state sector.
