The Department of Education says that boosting the number of academies and free schools in the country will help create a "better and more diverse school system". In a policy announcement, the DfE stated that there is an "urgent need" to transform standards in education.

It is a pressing need because the UK is already lagging behind other countries. If nothing is done to make serious changes, then the country runs the risk of seriously damaging its reputation.

The government acknowledges that one of the longstanding problems that needs to be addressed is the fact that the nation's education system has "frequently [been] unequal".

That this still endures in the second decade of the 21st century is highly problematic and reflective of one government after the other failing to get to grips with fundamental problems to the system that perpetuate passive discrimination.

"There is evidence that giving heads and teachers greater freedom over their curriculum, budget and staff can help improve the quality of the education they provide and reduce the attainment gap," the DfE explained.

"We also believe giving parents, teachers and charities the ability to open schools in response to the needs of the local community will help to raise standards."

It is imperative then, the government elaborated, to foster a culture of innovation that results in the development of a "more autonomous and diverse school system", one that offers parents even greater choice.

The DfE has outlined actions that it is carrying out to make this happen. This includes encouraging more primary and secondary schools to transition into academies, which are publicly funded independent schools characterised, in part, by being independent of local authority control.

In the UK, academies are a fairly recent phenomenon, emerging from legislation that was passed in 2010 that basically made it possible for all schools to have the potential to develop such a status.

Other endeavours include inspiring more people from diverse backgrounds to create new schools. From teachers to charities and parents, the more people who take on this exceptional responsibility, the better.

Free schools are defined as being not-profit-making, independent and state-funded. According to the government, the main reason for setting them up is because there is an explicit need. They therefore tend to be a "response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community".

The DfE is working the independent charity New Schools Network, which is tasked with improving the quality of education in the country by boosting the number of independent schools on offer. It has a particular focus on transforming the experience of education for "the most deprived", so that they can realise their potential.

With the charity, the government is offering advice to teachers, parents, charities and organisations who have expressed an interest in setting up a free school. This includes assisting with applications and providing resources for research.

The DfE has also partnered up with the charity Baker Dearing Education Trust, which has been instrumental in developing the University Technical Colleges Model. These are government-funded schools that offer teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 technical and scientific subjects "in a whole new way".

"The UK needs advanced technical skills at all levels if we are to prosper in the 21st century," the blurb on the official website explains.

"Whether in manufacturing, wind farms, rail links or hi-tech hospitals we need a workforce that can develop new products, stretch and reuse existing resources, and meet all the challenges of the future."