Toby Young’s free school is the first to enter a funding agreement with the government

The first free school has been given the go-ahead by the government.

Parent-led West London Free School – set up by the writer Toby Young – is the first to sign a funding agreement with the government.

EC Harris is providing educational, recruitment and governance advice to the school and two others.

Young said: “I’m happy to say that today we received confirmation that Michael Gove had entered into a funding agreement with the West London Free School.

“We are the first in what I hope will be a long line of state-funded, independent schools set up by parents and teachers.

“My wife often jokes that if I spent the same amount of time on my career as I spend on the school we could afford to send all our children to Eton.

“Probably true, but what began as a project has become a crusade.”

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