The Swedish firm that ran England’s first and only “for-profit” free school has abandoned the UK market altogether after sinking almost £1 million into the failed project.
IES Breckland opened in Suffolk in 2012 as a result of a free school bid by a group of parents. They chose Internationella Engelska Skolan to run the school on their behalf.
The firm is the largest of those that run state-funded, independently managed schools in Sweden – a model said to have formed the blueprint for England’s free school reforms.
But the company admitted its foray into the English market was over. IES Breckland was quietly moved to new sponsor the Unity Schools Partnership this summer.
