The FINANCIAL — Gifted teenagers will be able to apply to new selective free schools specialising in maths as part of a £600 million initiative.
The money will be made available to set up 100 more state schools run by businesses, universities and charities.
At least a dozen will be controlled by university maths departments and academics, Chancellor George Osborne and Michael Gove will announce in a few days.
The specialist schools, open to pupils aged 16 to 18, are designed to make Britain a world leader in the field amid concern that A-levels are not up to scratch.Government sources said the schools would select pupils on whatever criteria they wished, with tough entrance exams expected.
Twelve maths free schools are expected to have opened by the end of this Parliament in 2015 as part of measures setting up 100 free schools. Ministers said they will act as a model for similar institutions specialising in other subjects.
The announcement comes after Education Secretary Gove used a major speech at Cambridge University to promise an unashamedly elitist approach to state education.
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