Last updated 17/10/2007
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
Apprentice scheme panned
The Guardian
09/10/2007
A new report says urgent measures are needed to match young people with local opportunities.
Giants join forces
The Guardian
16/10/2007
Anxious about funding, the big tertiary colleges have launched a new association.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Business acumen will bring third-stream funding payout
The Times Higher Education Supplement
12/10/2007
Universities that engage the most with businesses will see "significant" increases in state funding for knowledge transfer after proposals by Lord Sainsbury, the former science minister, were approved last week.
Graduates to get details of marks
The Guardian
16/10/2007
A new report concludes that the current degree system is not fit for the purpose. As a result students will be given a detailed breakdown of every mark they receive in their degree and how it was assessed from 2011 in an effort to help employers distinguish between the increasing number who graduate with 2:1s and firsts. Universities are resisting moves to scrap the existing grades.
Leading universities urged to forge links with academies
The Guardian
10/10/2007
Ministers are increasing the pressure on universities to increase the number of state school pupils they recruit by setting out ways for them to adopt an academy. They will have to set up "deep-rooted" partnerships with local schools in order to talent spot state school pupils.
Survey revives Oxbridge elitism row
The Guardian
15/10/2007
The Institute of Public Policy Research said the two universities were unlikely to reach agreed targets for admitting more state school students until 2016 - at least four years after their deadline.
Top universities awarding more top degrees
The Guardian
11/10/2007
Evidence of degree inflation which suggests that the number of firsts and 2:1s awarded is increasing fastest at the elite Russell Group universities has been uncovered by a comprehensive new study. It is likely to lead to lead to accusations of dumbing down, which have up to now been targeted at former polytechnics.
UCU fears employer bid to block action over pay
The Times Higher Education Supplement
12/10/2007
Negotiators reject Ucea draft pay guidance that all unions be bound by majority view. The lecturers' union fears that it will be prevented from taking industrial action without the support of the non-academic campus trade unions under employers' plans for new negotiating structures.
Universities attack degree funding cuts
The Guardian
12/10/2007
Universities have reacted with anger as the government's cuts for students taking second degrees were spelt out to the sector. In all, 24 universities will lose more than £2m each.
V-cs welcome funding pledge
The Times Higher Education Supplement
12/10/2007
Vice-chancellors have welcomed future "stability" in university funding after the Government this week said it would maintain student funding levels at least until 2010-11 and will boost the seven research councils' budget above inflation.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
£250m more for targeted learning
BBC Education News
09/10/2007
The chancellor has promised to spend an extra £250m on education in England, above what was promised in the Budget. An extra £200m of capital investment will go into building or refurbishing an additional 75 primary schools around the country by 2010-11.
Professional? So prove it
The Times Educational Supplement
05/10/2007
Teachers would have to update their skills to remain fully registered professionals, like nurses and lawyers, under a proposal put forward by the head of England's General Teaching Council.
Schools get new progress targets
BBC Education News
12/10/2007
Schools have been given new government targets for the progress children in England make during their education.
School rebuilding 'going ahead'
BBC Education News
15/10/2007
The government has denied claims that its £45bn school rebuilding programme in England has been halted. Instead it is reviewing the way local authorities are prioritised for the scheme in the future, the DCSF has said.
Schools told to tackle teenage obesity crisis
The Guardian
15/10/2007
As the Secretary of State for Families demands action to help girls take up sport, such as scrapping embarrassing gym kits and offering alternative activities such as frisbee and yoga, a study will predict that 50% of the population will be obese in the next 25 years
