Flagship free school that cost £35m closes due to lack of pupils

Government funded Parkfield, in Dorset, after unbelievable' lack of due diligence, says expert

One of the government's vaunted free schools, whose site was beset with so many problems it is estimated to have cost 35m, is set to close, having failed to attract enough pupils.

Free schools were launched by Michael Gove in 2010, when he was education secretary, with the promise that they would close the attainment gap in England.