As somebody who is looking for a primary school teaching job in London. How would you feel about being employed by a free school?

Autonomous free schools have become more popular under the coalition government and they are now a viable option for employment, even if not all of them will be looking for candidates solely with QTS. 

However, one potential issue that could affect your choice is the popularity of the capital's free schools among parents. 

The latest official figures show half of the primary free schools scheduled to open in the UK in the next academic year still have unfilled places. This is concerning given the clamour for primary school places that is already apparent in the capital.

According to the Department of Education (DfE), of the 26 free schools due to open in September 2014, 13 primaries are yet to fill their allocations. Furthermore, other free schools have not even made it to the starting line and have needed to push their launch back a year or so due to a multitude of issues that include the failure to secure sites or not receiving DfE approval.

In Barnet, the Marco Polo Academy, a bilingual Mandarin-English primary, was one of the free schools that was axed just prior to the national primary school offer day, while, perhaps more concerning still, the Walthamstow Primary Academy, which is opening in an area of very high demand, has been pushed back until 2015.

Labour was quick to describe the situation as a "damning indictment" of education secretary Michael Gove's pet project - an accusation the DfE responded to by pointing out newly established schools often have unfilled places - but more concerning to trainee teachers than political posturing will be the views of the parents who seem reluctant to back free schools. 

Why are there unfilled free schools on the cusp of a shortage?

Competition for primary places is especially pressing in London. The capital had a record 102,000 applications for reception class places this year, numbers that meant 5,000 children were not offered any of their six school preferences and last year's school census revealed the infant class average of 27.3 pupils is set to rise this year.

Tristram Hunt, shadow education secretary, said parents have no confidence in free schools, while Sue Fry, a parent in Merton, south London, told the Guardian she wasn't convinced by a local free school in her area.

"They couldn't tell us basics, like the term dates or when the school day would start and finish, there was no timetable, there were no teachers to talk to. It was too much of a risk," Ms Fry said.

Natalie Evans, director of the New Schools Network, an organisation that supports new free schools, said: "Obviously from a free school's perspective, recruiting pupils is absolutely crucial and the key issue a lot of them find is the delay in having a site approved. Because even for a parent who would love to send their child to a free school, it is a leap of faith.

"There are specific difficulties for the first years of free schools. When you look at admissions in the second and third years, that's when you can get a true test of how popular the schools are."

Is it a case of parents not wanting their children to be a guinea pig? What can be done to reassure parents? As a teacher are you reassured about the future of free schools?

Let us know your views.

Posted by Darryl Mydat