DfE Central
Free School Waves
The 'Central Wave' approach by the DfE structures the approval and opening of new free schools. In these organised phases, DfE invites applications, assesses these applications based on criteria such as educational vision and capacity to deliver, and subsequently approves successful projects. Each wave may focus on specific school types or geographic areas with a need for more school places, aligning with national priorities.
Authoring of applications for Central Waves can be a challenging process, requiring deep knowledge of DfE guidance, criteria, strategy, as well as wider policy landscape and best practice from the free school programme. PAG consultants, with extensive experience in Free School Programme, are ready to support you with the technical application authoring.
PAG's experience & expertise
PAG has a proven track record of producing successful bids for new free schools through central waves. As evidenced by the number of applications proceeding to interviews, we now have a success rate exceeding 91%. Starting with PAG’s founding director who has served as Chair and Vice Chair of free school trusts and has successfully proposed and opened several free schools across the phases, PAG’s Consulting team comprises professionals who between them have proposed or opened over 150 free schools.
Across Wave 1, 2, and 3 for SEND, and the AP wave, PAG supported a number of successful applications in each round. Most recently, in Wave 3, PAG wrote more than one-third of the successful bids, continuing its support for most of them in pre-opening project management. Furthermore, throughout Wave 15 of the mainstream free school programme in September 2023, PAG supported successful applications for several new provisions, notably a specialist college in creative arts for BPI.
With its best practices, PAG offers clearly structured applications that can be examined in relation to evaluation criteria. Our experienced consultants have the skills and expertise to ensure that applications will be meticulously tailored to meet the guidelines and requirements outlined by the DfE. Throughout the drafting process, the wider policy direction and best practices from previous free school waves and LA free school presumptions will also be considered. Accordingly, applications produced by PAG include crucial traces of the founder’s DNA, demonstrating how this will be extrapolated and that careful consideration has been given to the context of national priority, local context, and expected pupil intake for the new school.
PAG's Central Wave process
The process of technical authoring an application will be iterative. Any queries that come up during the drafting will be annotated on the submission document, and if necessary, PAG will ask for a conference call or meeting to go over specific draft elements and ensure the work is moving forward as planned.
Below is a simplified timeline of what to expect from the process.
1
Kick-off call and document request
2
First draft and feedback
3
Editing process as needed
4
Final draft and submission