Using a three dimensional free‐electron model for the π‐electron system the energies of the various singly and doubly excited configurations of benzene have been calculated. It has been found that the energies of the various singly excited configurations are in good agreement with the values obtained by Craig; whereas the energies of the doubly excited configurations are higher than those obtained by Craig. Therefore the configurational mixing for the doubly excited configurations is not necessary in this kind of model. Copyright © 1969 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.