EFFORTS to secure more places for Swindon schoolchildren seem to be paying off with the Government set to consider applications for six new free schools in the town.

Last year, it was announced that every new school in the UK was to be a free school.

Free schools have more control over how they operate than traditional local authority schools - they are not required to follow the national curriculum and can set their own conditions and qualification requirements for staff.

Swindon Borough Council has since held a series of events at the University Technical College site in an effort to encourage potential academy and free school sponsors to choose Swindon for their future projects.

The Government holds two rounds of applications for new free schools each year – the most recent deadline for submissions passed at the end of September with seven sponsors submitting applications for six schools in Swindon.

On Wednesday, cabinet members will be asked to authorise the Head of Education to support the applications.

A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said: “We’re pleased to have received a good level of interest from a range of education providers to operate the new schools that are planned for Swindon in the coming years.

“We have done a lot of work to attract that interest, as it’s vital that we continue to maintain our excellent record in providing school places in what is a rapidly growing town.”

Among the applicants is Great Western Academy - following on from their successful proposal to build a new secondary free school in Tadpole Farm, they have now applied to build a free primary school in the same area.

The 370-home development at Abbey Farm in North Swindon lists a primary school as part of the requirements – two applicants, Educate Together and Lydiard Park Academy, have come forward to express a wish to fulfil that aim.

Educate Together have also applied, along with the Blue Kite Academy, to create a new free primary school on the 890 home Badbury Park development.

The council had not planned to market the New Eastern Villages for free school applications until 2017 but early interest has led to the River Learning Trust submitting a bid in this most recent round.

Children with special educational and emotional needs will also be catered for thanks to an application by the Swindon-based White Horse Federation to build a new free special secondary school in the town.

Schools that are approved in this round will open in September 2018, at the earliest.