Faith Schools

Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools he and his predecessors have designated as being of a religious character in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight
The following table shows the number of brand new maintained faith schools that have opened in each of the last 10 years. All faith schools are designated as having a religious character under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and the Religious Character of schools (Designation Procedure) Regulations 1998.

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|     |Number of new faith schools|
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|1998 |3                          |
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|1999 |6                          |
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|2000 |3                          |
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|2001 |6                          |
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|2002 |10                         |
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|2003 |10                         |
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|2004 |14                         |
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|2005 |12                         |
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|2006 |7                          |
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|2007 |7                          |
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|2008 |6                          |
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|Total|84                         |
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These figures include former independent faith schools that have joined the maintained sector. They do not include new faith schools resulting from schools amalgamating or faith infant and junior schools amalgamating to be replaced by a primary school.