Another qualifications upheaval risks undermining the government’s good ideas

Further education is one of the public sector’s Cinderellas – chronically neglected by policymakers who care more about schools. The government’s latest white paper is a welcome attempt to rectify this. If the plan succeeds, it would go some way towards fulfilling Labour’s pledge to break down barriers that...

The DfE has announced it will raise tuition fees every year, and will bring in new V-levels after GCSEs.

School closures were the only option, but Covid lockdowns went too far – the fine line Boris Johnson treaded.

Former PM tells Covid inquiry that children ‘were paying a huge, huge price to protect the rest of society’

Boris Johnson laid blame on the Department for Education (DfE) over its lack of preparation for school closures at the outbreak of the pandemic, telling the Covid-19 inquiry that he assumed detailed planning was going on behind the scenes.

“We were focused on trying to delay the peak of...

The former PM says lockdown rules “probably did go too far” and says children could have been exempted.

Ex-home secretary says ‘work and teach’ visa, which thinktank finds could help reduce public concerns about immigration, is a ‘serious, pragmatic plan’

The former home and education secretary David Blunkett has backed calls for skilled migrants to train British workers in an effort to improve public feeling towards immigration.

A report by the Good Growth Foundation, a thinktank with links to...

Cambridge historian Emily Chung finds philosopher’s blistering depictions of segregation may have been exaggerated

Friedrich Engels stands accused of exaggerating, or perhaps taking “creative liberties”, with just how segregated Manchester was in the mid-19th century, a study has found.

The great socialist thinker, who co-authored with Karl Marx the Communist manifesto, was a Manchester...

Measure, which will allow increase in line with inflation, is part of white paper on post-16 education and skills

University tuition fees in England are to rise in line with inflation, but only for institutions that meet “tough new quality thresholds”, the government has announced.

In an attempt to put the higher education sector on a firmer financial footing, all institutions will benefit from...

Bridget Phillipson confirmed the plans for the next two years, with fees to increase automatically after that.

Critics say mandatory statues on college campuses and street renamings are a way to keep US culture wars going

Republicans and conservatives are campaigning to quickly build statues and other memorials across the United States for the slain rightwing activist Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination at a college event in Utah last month.

Political leaders in states such as Florida,...

Independent MP Ayoub Khan makes comments after Tel Aviv football derby between Hapoel and Maccabi called off after rioting

Another proposal in the white paper on post-16 education and skills is for a new system to replace the current one for pupils in England who fail maths or English at GCSE. The Department for Education says this reform will particularly help white working class pupils.

When...

Ministers say new vocational courses will simplify the “confusing” options students have after GCSEs.

Now 600 strong, the Artist Membership Project is helping young artists see exhibitions while dodging hefty entry fees at top British institutions. We meet the founder of the scheme

On a railing, not far from Tate Modern, is a lockbox. Enter a code and inside is a membership card to the museum, enabling free access to its temporary exhibitions. You get your ticket, you return the card.

The...

The BBC has spoken to students choosing Bulgaria due to UK’s strict cap on medical school places.

Entries include Welsh language names for fields and hills in move to ensure preservation of stories and legends

Dozens of placenames in Welsh, some hinting at ancient legends, others telling rich stories of how people used to live, have been submitted to a project designed to make sure they are preserved.

The Welsh government appealed for people to add historical names that may be missing from...

With 97% of schools destroyed or damaged, 600,000 children have just begun their third year out of formal education. Three students and a teacher share their stories – and their hopes

Juwayriya Adwan, 12, al-Mawasi, Khan Younis

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Joe Swash tells the BBC about his experiences of being a young dad and says more support is needed.

The private Alpha School says its students can learn faster and better – but experts warn not all may benefit from an AI boom in schools

In the world’s tech innovation epicenter, an “AI-powered” private school has made headlines for unabashedly embracing the technology.

Alpha School San Francisco, which opened its doors to K-8 students this fall, is the newest outpost of a network of 14...