Academies, free schools and open competitions

Find out information about academies and free schools and how to enter the open competitions for new free schools.

Suffolk County Council has a responsibility to ensure that all children in Suffolk have access to a good school that can make the best of their talents.

We:

  • Support parental choice both to help children find the school that best suits their needs as well as to develop the local school system as a whole.
  • Will work to a presumption of support for the creation of academies and free schools, actively managing their introduction into the existing system of schools.

Please note that the pre consultation period is now closed for Boyton Place Primary School, Haverhill, and Westland Heath Primary School, Sudbury. 

The competition is due to open on Tuesday 24 February 2026. Details of the competition will be published in the 'open competition' section below, on this date.