• Nearly 45% of councils had spent money on Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programmes that will no longer take place. The spending amounts to #&163;160 million, spent on paperwork legally required for BSF, public consultations, commissioning designers and architects and strategic reviews. Times


• A 2003 Welsh Assembly target for all schools to be 'fit for purpose' by 2010 has been dampened by a report by the Auditor General which concluded that there was a long way to go before they were 'fit for purpose' owing to weaknesses in the investment programme. #&163;144.8million will be invested in new capital projects to try and improve standards. BBC


• While unions have expressed their horror about the primary head teacher paid #&163;231,400 in one year, parents with children at the school have defended him. Guardian


• A teacher explains why it's fine to pay teachers more than the prime minister. Guardian


• Packed lunches filled with junk food should be banned, the government body in charge of healthy eating has said. Rob Rees, chairman of the School Food Trust, says the best solution would be for parents to pay for their children to eat healthy hot meals but unhealthy packed lunches could also be tackled by banning crisps, chocolate and sugary drinks on school premises. Telegraph


• Hugh Muir muses on 'hideously diverse Britain' and the challenges of diversity within inner-city schools. Guardian

• The Treasury is investigating the implications of introducing a graduate tax rather than raising tuition fees. The prospect of a graduate tax might have political benefit for the coalition as the Liberal Democrats are strongly opposed to higher tuition fees and four of the five Labour candidates support various forms of a graduate tax. Universities have expressed fears that a graduate tax would leave cash going to the Treasury rather than to them. Guardian


• Vince Cable is to suggest that the current degree system where students are taught for only six hours a week, is inefficient and will urge the creation of two year degrees with shorter summer holidays to compress learning and reduce student debt. His proposals could also involve lifting the cap on tuition fees while other areas, such as research funding, would be protected. Telegraph

The head of UCL has urged the government to ensure that cuts to university budgets protect research at elite institutions even at the expense of student numbers. He identified cuts in funding for research 'the biggest risk to...universities' but recognised that the politics of reducing student numbers was very difficult, 'if it then leads to the conclusion there should be fewer universities'. Times

• 60 of the 150 Family Information Services (FIS) in England have had parents reporting a lack of childcare over the summer holidays; particular shortages were seen in the South East, West Midlands and the North East. The average cost for a week's childcare was #&163;93, but in the South East it was around #&163;105.74, dropping to #&163;80.25 in Wales. Childcare was more abundant in Scotland. BBC


• The BBC has discovered that in the East of England, more than 1,000 under 18s have firearms or shotgun licenses. The minimum age to hold a shotgun license is 10 and 14 for a firearms license. BBC


• There has been too much emphasis on ensuring babies are born at a healthy weight, and too little on the health of the mother, experts have said. Pregnant women who put on too much weight are more than four times more likely to be obese 20 years later. Traditionally advised she could put on an extra 26lb during pregnancy, new NHS guidelines say a woman does not need to raise her calorie intake until the last trimester of pregnancy, when she need only consume an extra 200 calories a day. Mail

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