The education secretary, Nicky Morgan, has confirmed that the troubled Durham free school is to close, a month after Ofsted inspectors revealed that it was beset by weak leadership and bullying.
A letter from the Department for Education (DfE ) said the school had failed to show enough evidence of improvement, and gave formal notice that its funding would be terminated and should close before Easter.
Morgan said: “It is clear that the school is not delivering the high standard of education that parents and I expect. It is also clear that there is no imminent prospect of improvement and I am not prepared to let any child remain in a failing school.”
Durham free school opened in September 2013 as part of the government’s controversial programme to allow new schools to be established outside of local authority control. Several have run into difficulty, and four have now been closed or re-established.
Durham local authority has contacted parents to arrange new school places. The DfE said any disruption would be “outweighed by the positive impact on pupils that will come from receiving a higher standard of education in other local school”.
Pat Glass, the Labour MP for North West Durham, told the House of Commons last month that the school had become “a haven for every crap teacher in the north-east”.
Ofsted’s inspection report rated the school as inadequate and placed it in special measures. A separate report by the DfE’s Education Funding Agency had serious concerns over the school’s financial management.
