Should I follow the man of my dreams to work in a club in Tehran? Or take up a place at an elite university? Thankfully, my dad gave me advice I’ve lived by ever since

My parents did not expect me to land a place at university. I was not considered academic enough. And anyway, I was a girl. Instead, I was being primed for marriage. My mother didn’t see anything wrong with this. Born in...

Many buildings are in use past their predicted lifespans, but even newer designs lack measures to beat heat

To see the UK’s failure to plan for the impacts of climate crisis, look no further than Beaconsfield primary school in west London – where a building more than 100 years old copes with extreme temperatures better than its neighbour, built less than 10 years ago.

“I’ve got two...

Unions say it is dangerous for schools to stay open in high temperatures

Hundreds of schools across the south of England and Wales are expected to close or vary their hours this week, in an effort to combat the extreme heat and conditions labelled as dangerous by education unions.

School leaders said they had warned parents about potential closures on Wednesday and Thursday, with many opting...

As temperatures increase significantly over the next few days, these are your rights.

Is it an alien? A dinosaur? Is it going to kill us all? Our writer hits Ashdown Forest for the Big One Hundred celebrations – and finds its magic enchanting new generations

The rolling idyll of heath and forest, spinney and stream that gave us the Heffalump, the Woozle and, most famously of all, Winnie-the-Pooh, has a new fantastical resident. Creeping through the bracken, making strange cooing...

As temperatures increase significantly over the next few days, these are your rights.

A weaker rupee and tougher immigration rules are pushing Indian students away from popular destinations like the US and UK.

Applicants forced to retake one of the world’s toughest admission tests after claims questions sold on Telegram

More than 2 million aspiring Indian doctors have sat one of the world’s toughest entrance exams for a second time after an alleged question paper leak forced authorities to scrap the original test results.

Students arriving at test centres on Sunday were greeted by airport-style...

You may be projecting your own school experience on to your daughter, but her needs are different and she has you to support her

I have two children aged eight and four. My eight-year-old is very bright. She’s in year 3 and doing year 6 maths. Her state school has large classes and limited resources, so I challenge her by doing fun maths at home. I wanted to try getting her into a grammar...

Why some argue the social media ban could have a profound affect on how young people gain new knowledge and the rest of us move around online

Temperatures are set to rise over the next few days, and children can be especially vulnerable – so read on for tips to protect them.

Temperatures are set to rise over the next few days, and children can be especially vulnerable – so read on for tips to protect them.

PeopleCert had been planning to cut about 400 jobs in £22m savings drive at training body it bought last year

The vocational training body City & Guilds has guaranteed that plans for mass compulsory redundancies and the offshoring of hundreds of UK jobs to Greece will no longer go ahead.

The proposal to remove about 400 UK roles was first reported by the Guardian in December as part of a £22m...

Education secretary cites admissions data for England, saying Labour is ‘rebalancing the system to focus on 94% of kids in state schools’

Adding VAT to private school fees has failed to trigger an exodus of pupils into the state sector despite widespread speculation that it would, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said.

The Labour government applied 20% VAT to private school fees...

There has been a growing debate around the repayment terms of Plan 2 student loans in England.

Exclusive: Event co-founded by Jordan Peterson will bring together rightwing figures, US state officials and anti-abortionists in London

Nigel Farage and fellow Reform UK MPs Sarah Pochin and Andrew Rosindell will be there. As will a plethora of Reform advisers, backroom staff and figures, such as Ben Delo, a British crypto billionaire who has given £4m to Nigel Farage’s party.

Yet as...

A ban alone will have limited impact and could make things worse. A good strategy needs more educational content – and more money

As a parent, I understand the appeal of the announcement on Monday by the prime minister that would prevent children under 16 from using social media. Right now, you are in constant battle with the infinite scroll for your child’s attention, while their impetus to...

Democrat Jamie Raskin seeks ‘comprehensive accounting’ and requests interview with outgoing Bard president

Harvard University and Bard College are facing new questions about the institutions’ relationship with Jeffrey Epstein amid allegations that the convicted child sex trafficker leveraged his ties to the universities and their faculty to traffic women, while also burnishing his reputation...

Exclusive: NASUWT leader Matt Wrack also calls for more robust change from the government on education policy

UK politics live – latest updates

The leader of one of the country’s biggest teaching unions has said Andy Burnham is Labour’s best chance for beating Reform in a general election.

The general secretary of NASUWT, Matt Wrack, was speaking to the Guardian in the run-up to Thursday’s...

They all begin college with hope, and leave without the credential they believed would shape the rest of their lives due to financial instability, family, illness

Story and photographs by Rachel Bujalski

Everyone knows the feeling of leaving something unfinished.

A half-written novel. A business idea scribbled into a notebook. A hobby abandoned after the excitement fades. In my own life as a...

Why did Hungary’s pronatalist approach deliver an early rise in births only then to fall back? And what lessons does it offer to other countries desperate to lift fertility?