• A fifth of primary school children are failing to meet the expected level in science: 81% of 10 to 11 year old pupils reached the expected level in science compared to 88% in 2009. Science sampling tests were used for the first time this year at one in 20 schools, after Sats were abolished after controversy over marking and results in 2008. Teachers are overestimating their pupils' abilities, they judged that 85% of pupils were at the appropriate level. Times


• The lead education motion at the Liberal Democrat conference next month will be opposition to Michael Gove's free schools, leading the coalition towards a potentially damaging split. Delegates will urge parents not to send their children to the free schools, describing them as 'socially divisive, likely to depress education outcomes and an inefficient use of resources in a time of austerity'. Guardian


• Phil Beadle exposes the two policy announcements that he sees as revealing the ideological direction of the coalition: the allocation of £4m to expand Teach First into primary schools and the abolition of the budget for the training of higher level teaching assistants. Guardian


• More than 1,700 staff in UK schools were accused of misbehaviour by parents or pupils last year; more than half of which were allegations of physical assault or 'inappropriate restraint'. More than 1,000 related to teachers and the rest were against a range of other staff working in schools, such as teaching assistants and bus drivers. One in five complaints against school staff were allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour. BBC


• Michael Gove has frozen grants to councils for building up to 1,300 community playground schemes, only schemes where construction has already started are to be allowed. The £235m Playbuilder scheme was started more than two years ago. BBC


• Imogen Stubbs investigates how to get an A* for English A Level for Radio 4 next week. Observing from her daughter's experience that 'you cannot sit an A-Level now without understanding the marking system', she bemoans this 'cynical approach to A-Levels'. Telegraph


• One secondary school has boosted the number of students eating a hot dinner to 70%: a new menu; low prices; staggered lunchbreaks and a £50,000 new canteen and kitchen. Take up of school meals at secondary level stands at around 35.8% countrywide. Guardian

• Calculations about the cost of a new graduate tax indicate that middle class professionals will pay vast amounts more for a degree: GPs some £70,500 and teachers £50,000. While the coalition claimed that it would end a situation in which teachers and care workers pay the same as top lawyers and surgeons, a new report suggests the tax would escalate the cost of a degree for all students. Telegraph


• Sixth formers who miss their A Level grades are unlikely to find places through clearing. A larger number of universities than normal - almost all Russell Group institutions - have said they will not have places left to release through clearing. Times

• A TUC report released today suggests that the number of young long-term unemployed people is still rising across two thirds of the country. Its analysis of JobSeekers Allowance data finds that figures are up a fifth on the previous year; research which only will reinforce the criticism of government for abandoning schemes such as the Future Jobs Fund. Guardian


• During a question and answer session in Manchester, David Cameron suggested that Sure Start should not be used by "the 'sharp-elbowed' middle classes". He commented that it "can't just be a service that everyone can jump into and get advantage out of". Telegraph


• Frank Field, appointed by Cameron to a carry out a Review on Poverty and Life Chances, has devised a plan for a GCSE in parenting. There is already a module on parenting within PSHE but Field dismisses this as a 'rag end subject' and envisages that 'parenting and life skills' be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum to be followed by an exam. He cites a genuine desire among young people to learn how to be good parents. Telegraph


• The coalition has announced that lone parents will have to seek work when their child reaches age five, or lose their benefits. The Guardian asks families how they'll cope. Guardian

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