• Ofqual ordered every major exam board to revamp their science papers last year due to 'serious concerns' about the dumbing down of courses - the first time the regulator has stepped in to force exam boards to modify exams. All 36 new drafts were then rejected as also not being of a high enough standard. Ofqual has said it hopes new courses will be ready to be implemented in 15 months time. Telegraph


• Previous minister for Europe under Gordon Brown and now a shadow Foreign Office minister has used a speech in the Commons to describe the waning importance of French (a 'useless' foreign language), he claimed that the most significant languages to learn were Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese. In January, Ed Balls said that all secondary school students should have the chance to learn Mandarin. Telegraph


• Chef Jamie Oliver is planning to set up a school to help teenagers who have struggled in mainstream education. It is thought he will work on the project for a forthcoming Channel 4 series. An advert for Oliver's TV company has said he is forming a school 'with a difference' and looking for 16-19 year olds in the Greater London area who have left school feeling unfulfilled. Guardian

• Three major student and worker unions have organised protests for students and staff at over 50 colleges and universities. The action will coincide with planned strikes at six universities and colleges, all of which anticipate funding cuts and job losses in George Osborne's first budget next week. Telegraph


• Black students are three times less likely to get a First class degree than white peers. UK-born students taking full-time degrees between 2002-06 were tracked: 3.5% of black students got a First, compared with 11% of white students, 9% of students from Chinese families and 5% from Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin. Students from ethnic minorities were concentrated at several universities: one in eight black students attended either the University of East London or London Metropolitan University. Guardian

• The Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group and a coalition of human rights groups has said that Britain is breaking European convention and perhaps UK law, in a report which claims that the government has presided over an 'on-going scandal' of trafficked children going missing in care. It reviews how the cases of 390 suspected trafficking victims proceeded. Guardian


• Charities have warned against scaling back the Vetting and Barring scheme too far. The Chief Executive of Barnardos commented that the scheme 'has the potential to restore parental confidence in the safety of their children' and that a 'robust system' was needed. The Independent Safeguarding Authority has said it will continue to operate official lists of those barred from working with children and vulnerable adults and existing requirements for criminal record checks would continue. Guardian


• Flagship Conservative council Hammersmith and Fulham is to shut a support centre for carers, used by around 600. Campaigners staged a protest last week - but already failed last year to persuade the council to lower charges for home care services. The carers centre had bid for the new contract the council had tendered but was told it didn't meet requirements; the council will re-tender the contract later in the summer. Guardian


• The Big Society in practice: how residents are regenerating their neighbourhoods using blogging and websites such as FixMyStreet.com. Dozens of hyperlocal sites are up and running where residents seek to highlight and address problems from abandoned white goods to uncollected rubbish. How should local councils engage with these networks? Guardian


• Failed asylum seekers have no recourse to income or state funds, and often become destitute. Four tell their stories. Guardian


• A poll asked 2,000 parents about their children's free time: 20% believed their children do not have enough free time to be children; 37% blamed tv for a lack of free time and 66% homework, extra lessons and after school activities. On average, children were thought to spend around 70 minutes a day playing. Mail


• A survey of 3,000 women found that 7 out of 10 were 'completely bored' with their lives - 46% felt they had a disappointing social life and 40% hate their jobs. Telegraph

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