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State-funded schools in England are schools in England which provide education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge. Approximately 93% of English schoolchildren attend such schools.[1] These include academy schools, community schools, foundation schools, voluntary aided schools and voluntary controlled schools; a small number are state boarding schools and three are City Technology Colleges. A significant minority are faith schools, which are attached to religious groups, most often the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.

Free schools, introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition following the 2010 general election, are newly established schools in England set up by parents, teachers, charities or businesses, where there is a perceived local need for more schools. They are funded by taxpayers, are academically non-selective and free to attend, and like Foundation schools and Academies, are not controlled by a local authority. They are ultimately accountable to the Secretary of State for Education, and are conceptually based on similar schools found in Sweden, Chile, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, where they are known as Charter schools. Free schools are an extension of the existing Academy Programme, and are in fact legally identical to Academies with the term "Free School" being used for Academies that are newly established under the Governments Free School Initiative rather than being an existing school converted to Academy status. The Academies Act 2010 authorises the creation of free schools and allows all existing state schools to become Academy schools. Persons or groups seeking to set up a Free School may obtain assistance from the government supported New Schools Network. This last should not be confused with the Local Schools Network which is a group set up to oppose both Free Schools, and indeed the whole Academy program. The first 24 free schools opened in Autumn 2011.

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Of course if anyone has a link to a change in this policy I would gladly bow my head in respect.