David Cameron has insisted there will be "no more excuses" for failure in schools and that discipline and "elitism" must prevail to mend the country's "broken society". Speaking at the opening of a free school in Norwich on Friday, the prime minister hit back at critics of the new system, saying academies, independence and choice "really works".
"We've got to be ambitious, too, if we want to mend our broken society. Because education doesn't just give people the tools to make a good living - it gives them the character to live a good life, to be good citizens," he said.
The prime minister also said he had asked the government's social policy review to look into whether the benefits of parents whose children frequently play truant should be cut.