Teenage boys believed to be among most vulnerable to criminal gangs using real and fake images to blackmail victims

‘It can happen to any child’: parents of sextortion victim fight for justice

Teachers in the UK are being asked to help spot signs their pupils are becoming victims of sextortion, with teenage boys thought to be among the most vulnerable groups.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has...

A “snapshot” survey by Wales’ children’s commissioner found many children wanted more food at lunch.

A TV presenter who funds a university scholarship helps to unveil a new literacy drive.

Exclusive: School leaders say they have had to take on additional role as caretaker because they can no longer afford staff

Headteachers are being forced to mend desks and unblock toilets themselves after sacking school caretakers in the wake of budget cuts, the Guardian has been told.

School leaders in England said they could not afford to employ caretakers, and were having to change...

The institution hopes to ‘shift the dial’ and encourage a more diverse range of students to apply

A key obstacle in the path of poorer aspiring actors is to be removed at one of the UK’s leading drama schools, the Observer can reveal. The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, one of the country’s top drama schools, where Dame Judi Dench, Andrew Garfield, Riz Ahmed, Jason Isaacs, Cush...

The government’s scrapping of the Now Teach scheme, which has overdelivered on targets for older workers, has sparked an outcry

Ministers have been accused of making a crisis in the recruitment of teachers even worse after axing funding to a much-praised programme helping older workers start a new career in the classroom.

An outcry is already beginning over the decision to axe the career change...

The school assessor’s minimalist judgments are here to stay. But how would inspectors rate the government?

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Rana Mitter, vice president for public engagement, keen to move on from colonial guilt and post-Brexit introspection

Britain’s most revered academic institutions ought to stop worrying about their outdated image, since they now offer the best route to global influence, according to British historian Professor Rana Mitter. The renowned China expert, now based at Harvard’s Kennedy School,...

With pro-Palestine students arrested and campus protests broken up, educators are increasingly rallying in support

As student-led protests calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from Israel and its occupation of Palestinian land continue to spread across US universities, some faculty members are increasingly joining the charge – speaking up and even standing alongside their students.

At...

Exclusive: New research shows extent to which schools are struggling to provide qualified teachers for every class

Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research.

A desperate teacher recruitment crisis, compounded by inadequate...

Protests have erupted across more than two dozen campuses, including New York, Texas and California.

As pro-Palestinian demonstrations roil campus, the station’s undergraduate reporters – working 18 hour days – have become an essential news source

“The turning point was certainly immediate, very sudden … We received a tip at 4am that there would be a demonstration on Columbia’s campus, and pretty soon after that, we went live on air.”

The presenter, Georgia Dillane, is describing the moment on...

The California university cancelled Asna Tabassum’s speech because of ‘security concerns’. The real reason is cowardice

When Asna Tabassum, a hijab-wearing Muslim, was announced as the valedictorian for the University of Southern California class of 2024, my initial reaction was the thought of my south Asian mother saying, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you valedictorian?” But what...

Senior figures from leading institutions are warned of risks to some of their cutting-edge research.

Teachers say behaviour getting worse as survey also shows parents getting less supportive of school policies

Only two in five children in England say they always feel safe at school, according to a government survey, and teachers from across Britain have told the Guardian they have seen pupils’ behaviour deteriorate over the last two years.

Teachers said violence and abuse aimed at school staff...

Police have arrested dozens of students across US universities this week after a crackdown on pro-Palestine protests on campuses. Erum Salam and Margaret Sullivan report from New York

As the Israel-Gaza war grinds on amid a worsening humanitarian crisis, the world’s attention this week was captured by a battle on the campuses of elite US universities. Pro-Palestine student protesters were...

Ministers considering more funding to protect important research sites, with China seen as a particular concern

MI5 has warned universities that hostile foreign states are targeting sensitive research, as ministers consider measures to bolster protections.

Vice-chancellors from 24 leading institutions, including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, were briefed on the threat by the...

Students react to school’s invitation to president to speak while authorities crack down on campus protests across US

Morehouse College, a nearly 160-year-old historically Black college in Atlanta, announced on Tuesday that Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its commencement ceremony in May. Though Morehouse initially extended the invitation in September, Biden’s acceptance comes after...

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, apologises for shared housekeeping photos of student accommodation.

Suspects alleged to have posed as academics to access books and replace them with copies, says Europol

Europe live – latest updates

Police have arrested nine Georgians suspected of running a sophisticated criminal operation stealing valuable antique books – including an original Alexander Pushkin manuscript – from national libraries across Europe.

Shelves of 19th-century Russian-language...

Local and state police clash with demonstrators in Texas state capital while rightwing governor says protesters ‘belong in jail’

At least 20 people were arrested, including a photojournalist, as police and demonstrators violently clashed at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday.

Hundreds of students walked out of class to protest against the conflict in Gaza and demand the university...