Rachel de Souza, principal of Ormiston Victory Academy, who is behind the Sir Isaac Newton Free School proposal.

Three of Norfolk’s four proposed new free schools are one step closer to opening their doors in 2013 after making it through to the interview stage.

Those behind the Sir Isaac Newton Free School – which would be a Norwich-based sixth form specialising in maths and science – will be grilled by department for education officials today having successfully made it on to the shortlist.

The Future Free School, aiming to offer an alternative provision for Norwich students with behavioural problems, and the Thetford Free School, aimed at youngsters with learning and behavioural difficulties, will also get their chance to sell their idea to the government during interviews over the next few weeks.

But a fourth proposal for Norfolk has not been successful. Plans for Benjamin’s School, which is the idea of a consortium of parents including Benjamin Foundation founder Richard Draper, have been rejected at the first stage.

Mr Draper, whose idea was based around an all through school on five sites across the county which allows students to lead their own education, said he was “gutted” by the news.

For more, see tomorrow’s paper.