Education Secretary Michael Gove will announce today the results of the second round of Free School applications in England. In a speech at the Policy Exchange, Mr Gove is expected to announce that there have been 281 bids to open Free Schools in England in the second round of applications.

Free Schools are government-funded institutions run independent of local council control and were introduced by the new coalition Government last year. The first round of applications saw 323 bids, of which, the BBC reports today, between 10 and 20 are expected to open in September this year. That is just 15 months after the Department for Education (DfE) first invited proposals from community groups.

Free Schools are founded as academy schools, which are funded directly by the Government, but are outside the control of local authorities. The school model was inspired by the American Charter Schools programme, which, the DfE believes, demonstrates how “these freedoms, coupled with inspirational teachers and leaders, can have a huge impact on academic performance and the numbers of pupils staying on in education. These schools are normally set up in areas where there are high levels of deprivation. They demonstrate that, when the right conditions are put in place, young people can thrive.”

However, detractors of the Free Schools programme in this country have expressed concern that the majority of applications will come from the wealthy and vocal middle classes. Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham said Mr Gove was "pouring time, energy and resources into a free schools programme which will be irrelevant for most parents and is diverting funding out of mainstream schools into wealthier areas".

The Telegraph reports that around a fifth of applications have come from independent schools bidding to “open satellite campuses for parents unable to pay for a private education.”

The remainder of the bids have come from community groups, charities, businesses, universities, trusts, and religious and voluntary bodies. Mr Gove has expressed delight in the encouraging numbers of applications, and has faith that the system will help to provide wider access to decent educational provision for more deprived areas.

“Our critics said it was impossible to open a school in little more than a year. Several will open this September,” he said ahead of the speech. “Our reforms are about creating a generation of world-class schools, free from meddling and prescription, that provide more children with the type of education previously reserved for the rich.”