Academies will become the norm for secondary education under the Conservatives, shadow schools secretary Michael Gove has said.
Speaking at the Conservative conference in Birmingham on Tuesday, Gove said he would follow the Swedish model of parental choice - with schools competing for pupils, rather than pupils competing for schools.
Pledging to expand the number of academies, he said: "Not only will we restore to schools all the freedoms they've lost, we'll dramatically expand freedom for professionals.
"We will give the best of our comprehensive schools the chance to free themselves from bureaucracy to enjoy full academy freedoms.
"We expect to double the number of academies currently planned. We will be on course for academies - self-governed schools - to become the norm in secondary education.
"An independent state school accessible to every community, open to all but committed to excellence, free to pursue tougher discipline policies, free to pay good teachers more, free to innovate and experiment and drive up standards - that is our ambition.
"And in return for greater freedom we shall ask these excellent schools to use their new powers to help under-performing schools."
To an appreciative reception from the conference hall, he also pledged to boost history teaching in schools.
"Instead of being taught about Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution and the heroic role of the Royal Navy in putting down the slave trade, our children are either taught to put Britain in the dock or they remain in ignorance of our island story," he said.
Gove said the Tories also wanted to return adventure to schools by reducing "absurd" health and safety legislation preventing pupils taking parts in sports and school trips.
And he announced plans to give former soldiers free teacher training, in the hope that more ex-servicemen in the profession will improve order in the classroom.
Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will also be offered free university places.
Gove said: "In 1945 the American government honoured the men and women who'd fought against fascism - the greatest generation - with a piece of legislation, the GI Bill, which granted returning heroes the right to free university education."
Britain should offer the same to those fighting abroad, he said.
"The young men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are heroes of our time, their sacrifices in the cause of freedom make them the greatest of our generation, and they deserve the thanks of all of us."
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