Rebecca Joynes groomed a second boy while on bail for abusing her first victim.

Children are growing up as AI natives and experts say computing skills should be on par with reading and writing

In a Cambridge classroom, Joseph, 10, trained his AI model to discern between drawings of apples and drawings of smiles.

“AI gets lots of things wrong,” he said, as it mistakenly identified a fruit as a face. He set about retraining it and, in a flash, he had it back on track –...

Chris says a lack of placements for children being taken into care shows the strain on the system.

Lucy Morville, from Burnley, thought most students would be from the north and felt ‘culture shock’ surrounded by southerners

Like many students from the north, Lucy Morville says she felt “culture shock” at being surrounded by southerners when she arrived at university. But she said the shock was even greater because it wasn’t what she expected when she enrolled at the University of York.

“I...

Prof Shitij Kapur says there are too many graduates and degree is now just a ‘visa’ to enter professional world

The UK now has a “surfeit” of graduates and students must accept that a university degree is no longer a “passport to social mobility”, a leading vice-chancellor has argued.

Prof Shitij Kapur, the head of King’s College London, said the days when universities could promise that...

Free prescriptions and eye tests ought to help these young adults stay healthy. They also signal the state’s ongoing role

The outcomes for children who grow up in care are shocking. A vital part of the welfare state, which exists to promote the safety and wellbeing of highly vulnerable young people, is falling short in health, education and employment terms. They have a 62% higher chance of...

Despite longstanding concerns over pay and conditions, more young graduates are entering the classroom

Joseph Curatolo was studying architecture four years ago when he took a summer job, teaching music to middle school students. When he told them he might leave the program to focus on his studies, he said, they burst into tears.

“The fact that I had such an impact on these kids led me to...

The date by which people need to apply is 15 January – late applications can be less successful.

Health worker Naushaba Roonjho was ostracised by her family in Pakistan for wanting to work but now she is campaigning for political office

When Naushaba Roonjho became the first girl anyone in her district knew to have passed Pakistan’s national secondary school exam, the news was not celebrated. At home, in her village of Sheikh Soomar in southern Sindh, her father told her: “This is...

Growing numbers of institutions now offering lifelong careers support as older alumni seek help to change jobs

University careers advisers are used to steering fresh-faced students towards the labour market – but they are now increasingly seeing graduates in their 40s and 50s looking for help to revive their careers.

More UK universities are now giving their graduates lifelong access to campus...

Pupils will attend different schools for several weeks while a new site is prepared, leaders say.

Elite junior tennis players are flocking to online schools. The model offers flexibility and focus – but raises deeper questions about growth, pressure and childhood

In a major study released recently in Epidemiology, conclusions were drawn – yet again – regarding how shutdowns and online learning were ultimately very damaging to kids’ emotional and mental health (obviously some cohorts...

A Children’s Booker prize, library cards for newborns and a major campaign – initiatives to encourage a love of books in children are a cause for celebration

Reading to children from a young age leads to greater happiness, educational success, empathy and social mobility – no wonder the government wants to encourage everyone to do it more. To this end, next year has been decreed the National...

Fewer children are reading for fun – but parents are trying everything from AI to dramatic voices to keep them engaged

It’s been a tough year for our brains. Merriam-Webster dictionary editors chose “slop” as 2025’s word of the year. New York Magazine recently dropped its “Stupid Issue”, with a cover story exploring America’s collective “cognitive decline”. There are big...

Candidates will have to sit assessments in person unless there are exceptional circumstances, says ACCA

Business live – latest updates

The world’s largest accounting body is to stop students being allowed to take exams remotely to crack down on a rise in cheating on tests that underpin professional qualifications.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which has almost...

A scheme that started four years ago brings primary school pupils together with elderly residents living nearby.

Professor Green and Ryan Libbey open up about how fatherhood affected them and how you can protect your mental health.

As the US faces challenges to public school funding, activists warn that more people should pay attention to what’s happened in Inglewood, California

Inglewood, California – a few miles east of Los Angeles international airport – is known as the city of champions. The NBA champion Lakers once called Inglewood’s Forum – famously dubbed “the fabulous Forum” by announcer Chick Hearn – home.

By the...

The Guinness Book of Records is a favourite with boys, but one author always tops the list.

Cláudio Valente and one of victims, Nuno FG Loureiro, both studied at notoriously challenging Técnico in Lisbon

As investigators in Massachusetts work to piece together a motive for the murders of two Brown University students and an MIT physics professor, former classmates of the suspected gunman and one of the victims have been asking if the roots of the tragedy lie in their shared experience...