• Only 16 state secondary schools will next year offer the IGCSE, following the government's pledge in June that any state school wanting to offer the qualification would receive funding, an attempt to close the gap between the state and private sectors. The further 150 schools set to start in 2011 will be in addition to the 350 private schools already offering the qualification. Telegraph


• The government is to repeal rules regarding school discipline in an attempt to cut red tape: schools will no longer have to admit a pupil for every one expelled nor - perhaps - will they have to record all 'significant incidents' in which teachers use force to restrain violent children. They have already scrapped the 24 hour required notice period for detention and empowered teachers to search pupils for a banned item. Telegraph


• Parents and charities have warned that health risks will follow the government's end to grants to create around 1,300 playgrounds.The policy director of the British Heart Foundation said the decision would 'cost society in the long run as we'll continue to fight against child obesity'. Telegraph


• A group of North London parents who hope to set up one of the first 'free schools' plan to hold lessons in a church hall. The church group have 50 children who will join if the application, still with the Department for Education, is successful. The government suggested that small schools might set up in converted premises. BBC

• Michael White explains why simplistic comparisons of a graduate tax and higher tuition fees fail to capture the complexity of what Lord Browne's researchers are addressing. He cites the graduate contribution scheme (GSC) as a likely alternative, proposed to the review by the University Alliance, which represents many of the ex-poly universities. Guardian


• Eight out of Scotland's 15 universities will not be taking candidates through clearing. More than 2,000 places were offered through clearing last year, but the figure is expected to drop to several hundred when results are released later on this month. BBC

• David Cameron has underwritten proposals by council leaders in and around Greater Manchester to introduce minimum pricing per unit of alcohol. He has said that the government will not introduce a national minimum price but communities pursuing it would be viewed very sympathetically. Andrew Lansley has opposed minimum pricing on the grounds that it punishes low income families. Times


• Ofsted has found that youths are being placed in secure custody too far from home, a trend which leaves youths disoriented and agencies unable to continue their support. Young people often did not know where they were being taken after sentencing and missed out on family visits as a result of distance. More than 400 children are held in secure homes or training centres in England. BBC

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