The suggestion is that the new admissions code will allow academies and free schools, but not maintained schools, to give admission priority to those from the poorest backgrounds. If so, the code will give academies and free schools certain freedoms not available to other schools. #
The policy thrust appears to be this: the government wants to give access to the disadvantaged to the best schools, and amongst the best schools will be the academies and free schools.
Peter Oldham QC