THE headteacher of a controversial free school has unexpectedly left, just weeks after it was rapped for its financial and governance arrangements.

Peter Cantley’s sudden departure comes after the beleaguered Durham Free School (DFS) was hit with a Financial Notice to Improve by the Education Funding Agency (EFA), which found “significant weaknesses” at the Durham City secondary school.

The school declined to disclose the reasons for Mr Cantley’s exit, which comes just 15 months after it opened its doors for the first time.

Having been appointed in late 2011, the former Department for Education official spent longer in post setting up the school than running it once classes had begun.

The deputy headteacher, Julian Eisner – formerly deputy headteacher at Birkenhead School, has been appointed acting headteacher and a spokeswoman said the school was “functioning as normal”.

Parents have been informed of the development and the school will advertise for a new headteacher in January.

In a statement, chair of governors John Denning said: “Mr Eisner is a respected deputy head and the governors have great confidence in his ability to lead the school in the interim.”

DFS, which is free from local authority control and directly funded by and responsible to the Department for Education, has been dogged by criticism since before classes even began, as it opened in the former Durham Gilesgate Sports College, which was controversially closed due to falling rolls and budget cuts.

It then became the focus of the national free school debate after it emerged its first term cost the taxpayer nearly £900,000, more than £25,000 per pupil.

Michael Gove, then the Education Secretary, publicly backed the school, but Durham City Labour MP Roberta Blackman-Woods has called for its closure.

It now has about 90 pupils, across years seven and eight.

Following the Notice to Improve, it was stripped of some powers and ordered to address a number of issues, including recruiting more parent governors and establishing an audit committee.

The school said it was confident all outstanding matters could be resolved quickly and submitted a recovery plan to the EFA on Friday (December 19), as required.

A Department for Education spokeswoman confirmed it had received the action plan and said it would review its contents.

“We will continue to work with the school to ensure its swift improvement,” she added.