Last updated 20/12/2007
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
LSC launch £20 million energy efficiency grants for colleges - £20 million capital grant fund for energy efficient projects
LSC Press Release
10/12/2007
The scheme is part of the Government's continued commitment to renew the FE estate and to build sustainable colleges for the future.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Denham defends degree funding cuts
The Guardian
13/12/2007
The universities secretary, John Denham, will today try to counter fierce condemnation of the government's plan to cut funding for students taking second degrees.
Developing green technologies vital, says new chief scientist
The Guardian
12/12/2007
The government must develop green technologies, such as clean-burning coal, to combat the worst effects of climate change, the incoming chief science advisor, Prof John Beddington, has told an influential group of MPs.
Lords enter the fray on second degrees
The Times Higher Education Supplement
14/12/2007
Pressure was mounting on the Government this week to reconsider the £100 million cut in funding for students studying for second degrees as an influential committee of MPs announced an inquiry into the decision.
New head for arts research council
The Guardian
11/12/2007
Ex-government higher education tsar, Prof Sir Alan Wilson, has been appointed chairman of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
New research funding for ageing and climate
The Guardian
12/12/2007
The government has announced plans to spend £1.3bn on four research programmes in the areas of global security, climate change, the ageing process and energy.
Second degree funding cuts will 'cause problems' for economy
The Guardian
12/12/2007
The head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Richard Lambert, has accused the government of contradicting its own policy objectives in a speech to vice-chancellors.
Universities fear massive cash loss
The Observer
16/12/2007
Universities will lose tens of millions of pounds in funding when tough new immigration laws are introduced next year, according to Professor Rick Trainor, president of Universities UK.
Welsh amity appeals to overseas students
The Times Higher Education Supplement
14/12/2007
Wales has recorded the UK higher education sector's largest increase in international student numbers - and universities in the principality are planning to expand their share of the lucrative market.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
All new schools to be zero-carbon by 2016
The Guardian
17/12/2007
Schools will install wind turbines and solar power systems in a multi-million pound drive to reduce carbon emissions, Ed Balls explained. The schools secretary wants all new school buildings to be zero-carbon by 2016.
'Loophole risk' to playing fields
BBC Education News
13/12/2007
A loophole in rules aimed at protecting playing fields is being exploited by property developers wanting to build on them, say Liberal Democrats.
Lower school leaving age proposed
BBC Education News
15/12/2007
The head of the UK's biggest education authority says some children should have the option to leave the classroom at 14 to learn a trade.
New body to oversee exam standards
The Guardian
17/12/2007
The government today announced plans for a new independent regulator to ensure fairness and high standards in the curriculum, assessment and qualifications system. Teachers have opposed the proposal, which would make the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority "a de facto arm of government".
Ofsted announces plan for lightning-bolt visits
The Times Educational supplement
14/12/2007
Schools could face surprise inspections with no prior warning under plans suggested to Ofsted by parents and pupils. The new system, to be launched in 2009 if a pilot next year is successful, aims to reduce schools' ability to stage-manage inspector's visits.
Play and learning children's plan
BBC Education News
11/12/2007
The Children's Plan draws together the government's proposals to improve children's learning and well-being by 2020.
Private schools could face new inspections
The Guardian
18/12/2007
All private schools could be subject to Ofsted-style inspections under confidential proposals being circulated by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. A ministerial order for private schools to be registered and regulated by Ofsted, rather than directly accountable to ministers has been condemned by private school heads. They are also resisting moves to make them justify their charitable status to the Charity Commission by sharing facilities with local schools, as schools ministers push them to adopt, or even become, state-funded academies.
Schools are told to make room for social workers and police: flagship plan for ideal education of the future - but critics cite failure to address child poverty
The Times
11/12/2007
Proposals outlined in the Government's flagship Children's Plan include the location of a range of services in schools in order to provide a community resource which contributes to all aspects of children's lives. The services could include parenting advice, mental health clinics, youth offending teams, speech and language therapists, social workers, health care and police officers. The Children's Plan builds on the government initiative for schools to provide extended services such as breakfast clubs and homework support clubs by 2010.
Schools 'hit by rebuild pressure'
BBC Education News
17/12/2007
The extra pressures of England's school rebuilding scheme are hampering the day-to-day running of some of the schools involved, a major report says.
