The Derby Diocesan Academy Trust (DDAT) has proposed a Christian two form primary school in Wingerworth, Derbyshire. It has reportedly been invited for interview by the Department for Education (DfE). The proposal is for a school with a "robust Christian ethos".

We have approached Derbyshire County Council, seeking the local authority's view. We've also contacted the East Midlands and the Humber regional school commissioner and the DfE seeking copies of the proposal, so we can properly scrutinise it.

The proposal claims that admissions will be "inclusive, open, fair and transparent". However the C of E typically uses such language in schools with a discriminatory element in admissions, and the school may be able to select up to half their pupils based on faith.

There are already 128 faith schools in Derbyshire, and according to the government's free school application information most of the county has little or no need for new school places.

Update 6 July 2020: The Department for Education has refused to publish the application forms for 19 faith schools proposed in wave 14 of the free school programme. They have confirmed that an unspecified number of these applications have been rejected, though they may reappear in a future round. The Department's justification includes that application should be "free from speculation and lobbying until the final decision is made". We regard this as an unacceptable attempt to restrict criticism from civil society and are considering an appeal against the decision.

Update 9 February 2021: The Department for Education has announced that this proposal has been approved for the pre-opening stage.

Update 14 April 2021: This proposal was not appear to have been supported under Wave 14 of the free school programme. The lack of details from the DfE mean the status of applications are not always clear and they may be resubmitted in future waves.

The full proposal should be published to allow proper scrutiny and a timeline for any consultations should be set out. The secretary of state should not support this proposal.

If there is a need for more school places in Derbyshire, then all relevant parties (the local authority, DfE, regional school commissioner and local education providers) should work together to develop an alternative with a community ethos.

No More Faith Schools is a national campaign coordinated by the National Secular Society and with supporters from a broad social, political and religious spectrum. We're dedicated to an end to state funded faith schools. We would like all schools to have an inclusive community ethos, free from any religious discrimination, privilege or control.

We help people challenge new faith schools, particularly where they have discriminatory admissions rules and where there are proposals for inclusive alternatives.

This application is part of wave 14 of the government's free school programme. The application may also reappear in future waves. Dates of this wave may be subject to change as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and opportunities for consultation are extremely limited. Interviews with wave 14 applicants may take place from spring 2020, with decisions by the DfE from the summer.

We're seeking further information and will update supporters as soon as we know more about any consultations or a chance to have your say. Please sign and share the petition below, ideally with a comment, to contribute to our challenge against the proposal.