The 'new' definition of 'British values' for academies and free schools isn't new

Today's Guardian claimed that new funding rules brought in by the Department for Education for academies and free schools could stop conservative Muslims from becoming trustees:

"The document gives for the first time the education department's written definition of the 'British values' that Gove said all schools should be promoting in the wake of the row over allegations of Muslim extremism in Birmingham schools."

We got in contact with the Department, who told us the definition - and the requirement to abide by it - wasn't so new after all.

Previous funding agreements required academies and free schools to meet the Independent School Standards since January 2013 which state that:

"the proprietor ensures that principles are promoted which ... encourage pupils to respect the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs."

The definition itself is actually older still, and appears in the government's 2011 Prevent counter-terrorism strategy.

The same wording has now been directly added to the new model funding agreement, and now explicitly relates to conduct by a Charity Trustee or member of the Academy Trust involved in the academy or free school.