• Michael Gove continues to face attacks over errors in the list of Building Schools for the Future projects to be scrapped and a third Conservative MP has demanded an explanation over a decision to halt a new school in his constituency. Teaching unions have organised a lobby of parliament on Monday 19 July, to coincide with the second reading of the academies bill. Guardian


• A £4 million government grant to Teach First will enable them to place their high-flying graduate recruits in a third of the toughest, inner city classrooms, it is hoped. This year, the organisation placed 560 top graduates in schools, and the grant will allow over 1,140 to be recruited in 2013-14. BBC


• New data on take-up of healthy school lunches disproves Andrew Lansley's public disavowal of the project last week. Annual statistics show 41.4% of primary pupils eat the hot food on offer at their schools, up from 39.3% in 2008-09. The number of secondary school pupils too has increased, from 35% to 35.8%. Together the figures mean that 320,980 more pupils are eating a school lunch. Guardian


• Independent schools have responded to the Charity Commission's order that two small prep schools offer more means-tested bursaries by saying that the measures will be impossible to realise without pushing up fees. The Independent Schools Council is seeking a judicial review of the commission's guidance. Telegraph


• Masha Bell, author and literacy researcher, is to tell a conference of English teachers today that sweeping reforms need to be made to the spelling system to improve children's linguistic skills. Academics claim that in Britain, children take three years to read to a decent standard whereas in Finland - where words are pronounced as they look - children take just three months. Telegraph


• The Guardian visits Somerset schools hit by Michael Gove's cancellation of Building Schools for the Future projects. Guardian

• Vince Cable will next week endorse David Willetts' proposals that all universities be given the opportunity to set an externally set and moderated exam. One imagined by-product of the move is the expansion of private universities and enhanced competitiveness across the sector. Guardian


• In a speech today to the Royal Institution, David Willetts will make the case for science research in an era of austerity. The Royal Society have been arguing for an expansion of research excellence which would mean favouring universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL at the expense of universities doing less research. BBC


• Why do we exercise so much care over the fairness of undergraduate access and leave access to postgraduate education to the economic winds? In 2008, 30% of independently educated pupils completed their postgraduate courses, compared to 23% of students from state schools, and the gap is widening. In 2002, when research council grants were more generous and accessible, there was no gap. Guardian

• David Cameron's plans to grant anonymity to men accused of rape were denounced by Tories who joined Labour MPs to oppose the bill. Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone had refused to defend the bill in the Commons, the Times learnt. Times


• The Archbishop of Canterbury must mediate today over a General Synod gathering at York which will debate whether to allow women to become bishops. The synod was at the point of allowing this when the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams and John Sentamu, tabled a late amendment to allow those who oppose women in leadership to opt for the oversight of a male bishop. Times


• Camilla Cavendish joins the argument on vocational qualifications. For her, the culprits are not just academies but the whole state sector, where one quarter of A*-C GCSEs are non-academic. With schools not liable to publish results by subject without a FoI request and academies not even subject to FoI, she calls for An Office of Schools' Responsibility to mediate the ever more pervasive recourse of schools to vocational options to boost their rankings. Times


• The GMC yesterday ruled that Dr Ikwueke breached his professional duty by failing to carry out an adequate examination of Baby Peter when he saw him eight days before his death, to refer him for an urgent paediatric assessment and to share information with other professionals. The panel will consider if this amounts to misconduct and if his fitness to practice is impaired. Guardian


• Pregnant teenagers are a fifth more likely to give birth prematurely and have a small baby than women in their 20s, a study has found - the chances rise to 93% if it is a second child. The teenage mothers too were more likely to be underweight, but a third of the cohort came from areas of serious deprivation. BBC


• The Supreme Court have unanimously ruled to change UK law from the current provision that homosexual asylum seekers can be deported on the grounds that they can conceal their sexuality in their country of origin. Times


• A new Policy Exchange report has found significant flaws in the analyses of Wilkinson and Pickett in their seminal book The Spirit Level, which makes the argument that income inequality leads to deteriorating quality of life, crime rates, life expectancy and social mobility for all, including the most well off. Guardian


• Andrew Lansley will make his first major speech on social care today. Owners of residential homes and home care services have called on the government to make their alternative to Labour's policy - dubbed the 'death tax' - clear; they called for more support from government, anticipating that service user expectations would be unrealistic in future and that quality of services will suffer. Telegraph

back to top