• Michael Gove has said that the government has no 'ideological objection' to businesses seeking to profit from the new generation of academies. He said however that his preference was for the teaching profession to decide how to run schools and it would be up to them to make the decision. Existing legislation does allow companies to profit - the governing body remains not-for-profit, but it can contract out the running of a school to private companies which charge a management fee. Guardian
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• Niall Ferguson, the British historian associated with rightwing, imperialism apologist views, is to have a role in reviewing the history curriculum. Speaking at the Hay festival with Gove in the audience, Ferguson confirmed that he had taken leave from Harvard to be in London over the next academic year. Guardian
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• Actors within the education arena talk about how the expansion of academies will affect them as special needs campaigners, head teachers, council chiefs. Guardian


• A survey of British employers has found that many ignore graduates from the UK, assuming they cannot speak foreign languages. Foreign businesses have complained to the Foreign Office about having to recruit from their home countries because British applicants for technical or management jobs will not have these skills. Since languages stopped being compulsory, the number of GCSE students taking a language has dropped by a third. Times


• Relate, the relationship counselling body, is offering families guidance about how to cope during their children's exams. They warn parents against offering extravagant gifts or sums of money as a reward and tells parents to remember 'it is the stress talking!' Guardian

• Pupils taking A Levels have been told by some universities that any grades they obtain by resitting exams will be discounted. No figures are collected centrally, but it is thought that 30-50% of pupils retake papers to boost their grades. Only a few institutions will use the A* grade in offers, including Imperial college London and Cambridge. Times


• Skills-based qualification are to move from the oversight of one body - the National Qualifications Framework - to a new one - the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), as part of a process to overhaul and re-approve qualifications so they're better suited to the workplace. While many colleges support the move, the future - and funding - of many courses remain uncertain, which may leave as many as 500,000 16-18 year olds without full-time study this September. Guardian


• The head of the University and College Union, Sally Hunt, tells the BBC that university lecturers could strike unless agreement is reached over redundancies as universities grapple with £1.1bn worth of cuts. There have already been 15 strikes since March, and more strike ballots are underway. BBC


• The University and College union has voted against the moves to introduce two year academic degrees. It dubbed the policy 'education on the cheap' and warned the degrees would lead to 'academic sweatshops' and lower standards, damaging the reputation of UK degrees. BBC


• Calls to the College and University Support Network have risen by a quarter over the year to May 2010. Calls were due to increased job insecurity and high stress levels linked to job losses and higher workloads; the charity also made £56,000 of payouts to those in financial need. BBC


• New research has shown that while teenagers may look like young adults, their brains continue developing long into adolescence. MRI scans of teenagers asked to solve a maths problem showed an unexpected level of activity in the prefrontal cortex; this correlates with chaotic thought patterns. Guardian


• The renowned arts college Dartington leaves its medieval country estate for an 85-mile move to Falmouth. How will it cope with metropolitan life? Guardian

• The Daily Mail cites a new study by Civitas which exposes the flaws in the claim that Britain is a closed shop society with no social mobility. Examining official data of children born in 1958 and those born in 1970, it finds that half of the population are in a different class to those in which they were born and Britain is a meritocratic society, in which bright individuals can succeed. Mail


• A new film is aiming to expose the challenges of being a young carer, 27% of whom (age 11-15) miss school or experience educational difficulties. Funded by the former DCSF, the film will be sent to Yorkshire schools before being rolled out nationally through young carers networks. From 2007, government guidance recommended that schools develop a policy on young carers. Guardian


• Senior coroner, John Pollard, who held the inquest into the victims of Harold Shipman, has called for all neonatal deaths to be reported to their local coroner, in order to give a more 'consistent overview of what is happening'. Currently, deaths are only reported if they are sudden, unnatural or violent, but Pollard has asked to be notified of all deaths in his area. BBC


• Tressa Middleton became a mother aged just 12, and both were taken into foster care after the birth; eighteen months ago, the child was adopted. Age 16, Middleton has spoken out for the first time and is now fighting for access to her child. Mail


• Renowned psychologist and author Oliver James has written to complain about the behaviour of Women's Hour host Jenni Murray towards him during an appearance on the show. He was being interviewed about a recent book in which he says that mothers of toddlers should avoid working outside the home for long periods. Telegraph


• Single Britons looking for love are being duped by West African gangs who are uploading fictitious profiles to dating sites only to defraud the individuals financially. The Serious Organised Crime Agency has sent officers to West Africa to help train police to deal with the problem. Telegraph

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